Anything for Love
by boopingsloth
Summary: Everyone could see Jaune and Pyrrha belonged together –even if they'd never admit it. So Nora starts playing matchmaker, trying to finally get Jaune and Pyrrha together. But a misunderstanding on Ren's part just might get her a match of her own.
1. Chapter 1

**So... this is my first RWBY fanfic! One of my friends from work got me into the show and now I'm slightly obsessed, and so I've started on fanfiction. I would love constructive criticism to get better (especially with some of the viewpoints) and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter One – Ren**_

Ren took great pride in being a rational person, considering the company he kept at school. After all, he was obviously the rational side of his partnership with Nora –just look at the way she rode that Ursa during initiation and _enjoyed_ it. And even with his other teammates, Jaune and Pyrrha had fits of emotion that overcame the part of their brains that made sensible, rational decisions.

Therefore, Ren knew it was completely irrational to be this irritated so early in the morning. For the most part, it could have been considered a good morning for Ren. He'd had a nice uninterrupted night of sleep, all of his schoolwork had been finished, and the weather was even cooperating today. All in all, this morning had started off pretty well.

At least, until Ren had opened his eyes and started feeling the irrational and undeniable urge to rip Jaune's head from his shoulders… or at the very least, shoot him in the leg.

"So when we go to class, you should just go over there and –hey look, pancakes! They won't be as good as Ren's, but we should have pancakes! Oh hi Ruby! Are you having pancakes? If Jaune doesn't want his, I'll eat them, and Ren can make me better pancakes later!"

The babbling from his partner wasn't unexpected, even this early in the morning, and neither was her assumption that he would just make her pancakes on demand. Nora had been assuming such things –and Ren had been doing them- ever since they were kids. Honestly, Ren didn't think she'd stop until they grew old and died… if she didn't haunt him beyond the grave for pancakes.

What was unexpected, and bothered Ren, was that she wasn't sitting next to him, breaking his perfectly nice silence with her amusing chatter. If there was a time in their friendship that Nora's conversations didn't make their way back to Ren, he certainly couldn't remember it.

Perhaps that explained his irritation this morning. Nora was _his_ best friend after all, and now she was practically hanging all over Jaune. _Jaune_ of all people!

It wasn't as if Ren didn't like Jaune –the other boy wasn't too bad actually, even if he was a little odd and didn't understand certain boundaries. In fact, Jaune was one of the very few people that Ren considered himself close to, even if he didn't show it well.

That didn't mean he enjoyed Nora being together with Jaune. After all, Nora was _his_ partner, and her chatter surprisingly made it easier to function in the morning. She was his unofficial alarm clock, and she was more than willing to drag him anywhere they had to be if he was a little too slow.

Ren figured that could also explain away part of why he was so annoyed. Nora hadn't woken him up this morning, and he'd almost thought he was dreaming when he heard his alarm clock beeping. After all, that was a sound he never heard, not unless Nora was at a sleepover (rare as that might be) or Nora was just too sick to get herself out of bed.

So hearing the alarm, Ren understandably got worried. He knew there was no chance she snuck out all of last night, but Nora, sick? She'd seemed just fine the night before, but if she wasn't feeling well now, Ren had to check up on her. That's what partners and friends did.

But Nora hadn't been sick, or even just sleeping in. No, if this behavior from this morning was any indication, she was just fine, stealing Jaune's pancakes and babbling across the table to Ruby and Yang.

Ren managed not to frown, pushing his food around his plate absently as he tried to pull his thoughts back together. Maybe Nora had gotten hit on the head during a spar? That would account for the odd behavior after all. Or maybe she was pulling a prank, or going through a dare or… who knew with Nora really?

But for this long? This wasn't the first time Nora acted weird, and she was _still_ over there! It was only two seats down, but it was wrong. Ren didn't sit at the last seat of their table; Nora did. Maybe it wasn't _assigned_ seating, but when it never changed, it might as well be.

That had to be what was throwing him off. Ren had his routine, certain things that were part of his norm, and this morning was just wrong. That had to be the reason he was so irrationally annoyed. It was just the effect of a very abnormal morning.

It had to get better by lunch… right?

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Things were worse. Not because Nora wasn't paying attention in class, she rarely did, but because somehow she never seemed to pay attention to anything else besides Jaune.

Wasn't this morning enough of a diversion for her? Where did her limited attention span go? Even Ren had a hard time getting her to focus this much on anything for this amount of time!

He would never admit it, but his own attention wasn't on the lectures that day because of it. It was a good thing it looked like Pyrrha was paying attention, because his own notes were ridiculously short. Ren was too busy noticing how Nora, with all the skill of a bored child, managed to fold multiple paper airplanes, tossing them with unerring accuracy to hit the back of Jaune's head, giggling into her hands with each success.

 _How does she manage not to get caught?_ Ren was forced to admit a grudging admiration for her ability to avoid getting into trouble, even though another wave of irritation hit him hard. What on earth was so important she couldn't tell him? What secret would Nora force herself to keep from Ren?

They never kept secrets from each other.

Why would she even keep a secret from Ren, after all this time? She knew he'd never judge her for anything, or tell anyone. Nora had once made him promise to help her hide dead bodies once, though thankfully, he'd never actually had to keep that promise.

So why did Jaune know this secret?

Was Nora telling Jaune her secrets now, instead of Ren?

Or what if it wasn't a secret?

Did Nora… No, that was crazy. This was _Nora_! This was the girl who could, and did, jump from the subject of pancakes to breaking people's legs in the span of three seconds. This was the girl who rode Grimm and sent people flying with her hammer and somehow managed not to kill them. But still…

Did Nora like Jaune? Romantically?

That was an almost sickening thought. Putting aside the fact that it was _Nora_ liking someone like _Jaune_ , it would still be a relationship between team leader and member. If the couple had been comprised of anyone else, it might not be a preposterous idea. But Nora didn't let go, and if something went wrong and threw off the team dynamic, it could be the end of everything.

It could be the end of Team JNPR.

Honestly, Team JNPR was the best thing that had happened for Ren in this school. He had Nora as his partner, and the other two were better teammates than he could have hoped for coming into Beacon. Ren had grown proud of his ability to have a conversation with Pyrrha that didn't have her apologizing consistently.

Even if Nora hadn't said it herself, Ren knew her enough to just _know_ the sentiments were the same on her part. People might enjoy Nora in small doses, but very few could manage a regular exposure to the girl's boundless energy. If she had been on any other team, things would have been very different for the both of them.

They had _friends_ now, besides each other. Good friends, not the kind that were just good as study partners and you knew were talking about you behind your back. Good friends that accepted that Ren's silence didn't mean he thought he was better than them, and realized that Nora's babbling tended to have some meaning, even if they didn't understand it all the time.

That was why Ren sincerely hoped that Nora didn't have any romantic ideas about her and Jaune. Such irrational emotions could ruin everything good that was going for them at this school.

Seeing yet another paper plane flying down towards Jaune's head, Ren miraculously kept the frown off his face, though his hand clenched into an unseen fist under the desk. Thankfully Pyrrha was paying attention to this class, because they were all going to need someone to give them a recap.

Ren managed to catch Nora's eye, and he knew she caught the message in them. _**What are you up to now?**_

The slightly guilty expression on her face was not reassuring at all as she waved a hand breezily in the air, as if trying to shake off any ideas of wrongdoing. _**Nothing, nothing! Nothing to see here, talk to you later, I have plane notes to make!**_

He was probably filling in the gaps of Nora's silent message, but looking forward and seeing Jaune's cheeks turn red did nothing to improve Ren's mood in the slightest. But he had hope. It wasn't lunch yet. Maybe things would get back to normal when more food came into the picture.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

If it hadn't been for the small snippets of conversation Nora sent his direction, Ren would have sworn that the girl was avoiding him. There was no other word for the way she squeezed herself in-between Jaune and Pyrrha, mentioned the smallest details of Jaune's day, and plans that she and Jaune were making.

When had she and their leader started spending so much time together, much less making plans? True, the plans involved all of them, but why wouldn't she discuss them with anyone but their leader?

"Ren, did you hear? Jaune thought we could all go to the zoo on our next day off and just have fun! Can you imagine? We could see all the animals, and jump in the pens and play with them! It would be so awesome!"

"I don't think we're allowed to do that," was Ren's automatic answer, though his brain was working on other problems than zoo exhibit rules.

 _Jaune_ thought of that idea? Doubtful. The boy might be more easygoing than him, but the zoo sounded exactly like something Nora would have come up with. She liked the crowds and animals and all of the noise that came with those things.

Even if it had been their leader's idea, Ren would find himself going along with it anyway. Nora had it in her head to go to the zoo now, and sometimes Ren swore even Headmaster Ozpin couldn't stop the girl when she had an idea. So he would go –or rather, be dragged- to the zoo, Jaune would find something to enjoy there, and Pyrrha would find herself there somehow as well.

Actually, Ren couldn't say exactly what Pyrrha was doing with them half the time. Her abilities were far more advanced than many others at Beacon, but she seemed to actually enjoy spending time with Jaune who was, without a doubt, one of the worst fighters in their class.

Not to say he wasn't getting better… He was. Even in this horrible mood, Ren could admit that Jaune was nowhere near as… well, pathetic was really the only word that seemed to be a proper description.

Meanwhile, Ren's thoughts were interrupted yet again by the arrival of Team RWBY and Nora's squeal of delight. He might have said nothing –it wouldn't have been much of a different anyway- except for the apple that went flying across the table at Yang.

"Don't start another food fight," Ren warned, glancing over at Nora with raised eyebrows.

"Me? You're the one who threw the pie!" Nora lied easily to pass the blame as she had done then, catching the apple as it came back in her direction. "Besides that food fight was awesome! Don't you think so Jaune?"

"Uh…" The mentioned boy blinked, looking as if he hadn't been paying attention to Nora this whole time, scratching at his head. "Yes?"

"See Ren? I'm not the only one who thought it was totally awesome!" Nora seemed to triumphant to want to tell her otherwise, and Ren wasn't going to. Food fights weren't his idea of 'awesome' but he had gone along with it nonetheless, so he couldn't say they were childish or ridiculous. That would have made him a hypocrite.

Besides, Ren had to admit, he was incredibly impressed with Nora's ability to send people flying with her watermelon hammer.

"You think it was awesome? I was getting bread crumbs out of my hair for a week!" Yang's complaint was met with pleased giggles on Nora's part, and a devilish grin on her sister's.

"Yes, but we totally won that food fight!" Ruby crowed, throwing her fist in the air triumphantly.

Nora's denials were brief, because at the end of the day, there was always something much more interesting to talk about five seconds later. "That was a fluke, and we'll prove it with another food fight anytime! Anytime and anyplace! Oh, but then we'd miss out on dessert stuff, and I want pie today! Not as much as I want pancakes – _Ren_ \- but pie is good! Ooh, we should have a sleepover and have pie!"

"All of us?" Ren piped in, raising his eyebrows again. There were lines, and if he had to have Team RWBY squeezing into their dorm room…

"No silly!" Nora reached over Pyrrha to poke Ren's cheek with a laugh. "All us girls! Then you boys go do your thing! Like… go train more, like manly men!"

Amused by Nora's… antics, that was the word, Ren merely shook his head at her. At least she was talking to him now, and not about Jaune and the things he wasn't to do. It was just them, even if Pyrrha was in-between them, and Nora making a not-so-subtle mention of Ren's activities. If he wasn't reading, or on one of Nora's adventures, he was training.

His appetite returning along with some of his good humor, Ren took a bite of his sandwich, absently keeping track of the conversation. He knew that Nora would bring most of this up later, and he would prefer not to have her repeat any of it back, accompanied with a playful scolding to pay more attention to her.

"So Pyrrha, I have to steal Jaune tonight, so he might be a little late to training tonight!" Nora's voice was clearest, as it normally was when Ren wasn't fully invested in conversations around him. "But don't worry, I'll have him back to you in one piece! I won't break anything! Most likely!"

Ren noted, as he nearly choked on his food, that Pyrrha looked more worried than was absolutely necessary about that statement. Nora was rough, Ren knew that, but not so rough that Jaune would be too badly injured by whatever they were planning. In fact, Pyrrha looked more worried _after_ Nora insisted there was no chance that Jaune would be injured… almost as if she didn't want Nora alone with Jaune.

Ren understood that sentiment. He wasn't too fond of that idea either.

Was it so wrong to want Nora to keep things as they were? Meaning, Nora shouldn't be so obsessed with Jaune, and get back to paying attention to Ren.

Ren kept his face blank, but he pushed his sandwich away slightly. Of course he didn't mean Nora should only pay attention to _him_ ; that was a ridiculous thought. It was just that they were best friends, and partners, and her spending so much time with Jaune was strange.

This line of thought wasn't helping. This foul mood was only getting worse, and every time Ren thought about why, he was more and more tempted to hurt Jaune.

Why was he so upset about it anyway? He didn't know anything for sure, except that Nora was spending more time focused on Jaune instead of Ren. It was odd, especially of years of being her main focus, but it didn't mean it was necessarily a bad thing.

It was a good thing that Nora was growing and expanding her friendships… right?

Resisting the urge to groan, Ren abandoned his lunch, pulling out a book that was nothing more than meaningless words. Instead of seeing the ink of the paper, the already too-long day was flashing on the pages, starting from the moment he woke up and saw Nora playing with Jaune's hair.

No, this wasn't going to be a very good day at all.

* * *

 **So, I hope you all enjoyed this, and hang around for the rest! Please leave a review to let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, here is the second chapter! Before I start, all of you guys are absolutely amazing, and I had so much inspiration for this… and then I listened to 'Boop' and had an extremely long fangirling moment. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two –Nora**_

Nora honestly felt bad about it, running around with Jaune like a chicken with its head cut off and not telling Ren why, but she'd _promised_ not to and that was important. It wasn't that she didn't trust Ren not to tell, but Nora _never_ broke a promise, even if she regretted making it in the first place. She felt especially bad, seeing how frustrated Ren was getting because she wasn't telling him anything, but a promise was a promise!

Besides, when it was all over and done with, she'd be able to say proudly that it was because of her and she did it all by herself.

Still, the pangs of guilt were hitting her –especially about not waking Ren up as usual- so Nora decided to do something nice for Ren. Grinning as she skipped into their room, Nora plopped herself next to Ren on his bed, opening up a textbook to stare at it meaninglessly. Why were these books so boring anyway?

A quiet sigh was all the warning she got that Ren was about to speak. "Nora, what are you doing?"

"Studying! Or trying to, but you're talking to me!" Tilting her head with a laugh, Nora lifted the book – _which one is this again-_ to show him. "I'm being good and studying like you're always telling me to do, and I'm even doing it quietly with you! See? This is a good thing!"

The quiet part might not have applied after that declaration, but Nora noticed Ren's eyes soften anyway, though no one else would have seen it. She was just that good.

Or it had something to do with knowing him for the majority of their lives. Take your pick.

"Why?" The one word from Ren really meant ' _Why are you choosing to do that now and what is it exactly you want from me?'_

Nora's grin grew even more as she shifted more comfortably on the bed. "Because I want to spend more time with you silly! Plus, I was hoping you could make this stuff way more interesting! You always make this boring bookish stuff way more fun!"

And he did. It was one of Nora's favorite things, to be able to see the part of Ren most people didn't recognize because he was always so quiet and seemed gloomy. He wasn't really gloomy, except maybe in the mornings, because he wasn't a morning person and needed Nora to get him to normal Ren state.

She would only admit it during a long babbling rant, when someone might miss it, but Nora actually enjoyed studying with Ren. Not with anyone else, but just him. She could ask him ridiculous questions, and he'd answer them, and if she ever got off-topic, Ren would bring her right back to where she needed to be without boring her.

But without Ren, the lessons were boring and she'd much rather be out and training, or terrifying fellow students with death-defying stunts.

She stayed in the room for over an hour, listening to Ren lecture – _he'd make a good teacher, but if he did that, he couldn't be my partner! Oh no! -_ before her scroll started beeping and she nearly screamed. How did it possibly get that late? How did she lose track of that much time while studying? She was late, and if she didn't get moving, Jaune would leave and she'd have to track him down, and all of this could be for nothing! Nothing!

Ren's look clearly told her that he knew this was more than her normal craziness, but she didn't have time to explain nicely. Or the freedom to explain all of it, because of one stupid promise! "I gotta… you know! Meet Jaune! We'll study more later! Yeah, later! Promise!"

Sadly, Ren did not look at all pleased by that explanation, but Nora really had to run before Jaune tried to escape her and her plans. "I promise, you'll be the first to know _everything_ , okay? Cross my heart, hope to die, and everything!"

Before dashing out of the room, Nora beamed and poked Ren's nose with a laugh. "Boop!"

Now, how to get to the other side of campus in five minutes…

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

After a record-breaking dash across campus –alright, she'd used Magnhild to blast herself across- Nora spotted Jaune in their arranged meeting spot, pleased that he had waited even if she'd been late.

"Jaune!" She could have landed on her own, she'd done it before, but Jaune was in the way and it was much more amusing to watch him freak out. Dropping out of the sky, fully prepared if Jaune _failed_ her, Nora cackled during her freefall.

The cackle turned into a far more satisfied laugh when Jaune managed to catch her, not even stumbling when he did so. "Good job Jaune! Our Pyrrha's taught you well!"

"Don't… ever do… that again," Jaune didn't look too happy that he'd caught her; did he want her to fall? Well, if he had, he would have let her drop, but Jaune's too much of a gentleman for that, comes from having seven sisters and all. Then again, he could have just been annoyed because of the sudden drop and the mention of Pyrrha, who was the whole point of Nora being out here instead of bothering Ren for pancakes.

"Pffft, don't be a lame butt! I fell, you caught me, and we're gonna totally get you and Pyrrha together, so all is good!" Nora cheered, allowing Jaune to put her down. He was certainly fun to make catch her, but he wasn't so good at the carrying thing. That really was a Ren thing.

Thinking of Ren, Nora pouted a little. "Are you sure I can't tell Ren? I'm no good keeping secrets from him! Besides, you said he was your friend, right? Like the brother you never had! So you should let me tell him and he could help and things could be awesome!"

She'd gotten that information by eavesdropping when she wasn't supposed to, but considering Ren would have told her _anyway_ , Nora had no qualms about removing the headphones. Besides, someone needed to set Jaune straight about them not being together-together; Ren wasn't as good as she was about it. People always still had misunderstandings after Ren attempted it!

"No!" Jaune's eyes widened, his hands flying about dramatically in the air. "You promised Nora, and I don't know how you got me to tell you!"

Nora stared for a moment before laughing gleefully. "Jaune, you think it's some deep dark secret? It was obvious! Maybe you didn't realize right away but it became so pathetically obvious at the dance! You wore a dress! _A dress!_ "

"Th-that was a promise and I kept it, so you keep yours! You tell anyone Nora and I… I'll…"

"You'll?" Nora tilted her head, not concerned, but genuinely wondering what it was Jaune thought he could use against her. He was one of the nicest people she knew, with only a few exceptions. She didn't think it was possible for him to threaten someone, not unless they were like Cardin and threatening his friends.

"I'll… I'll tell everyone you and Ren really are together!" That seemed to be the worst Jaune could think up, making Nora frown.

That again? Why did everyone seem to think Ren and her were together-together? They weren't, not in the slightest! Yes, they were close, but they'd only been friends for about a decade; what kind of friends would they be if they weren't close after all that time? It was like they were living that stereotype where boys and girls just couldn't be close friends without being involved romantically! Ridiculous!

And if she'd ever entertained thoughts about what it might be like to kiss Ren, or be a little less platonic, then that was her own business and that was over a long time ago! It wasn't a bad thing and it wasn't anything to blame her for! She was a teenage girl with a very attractive male best friend –who could blame her?

"No one would believe you!" Nora protested, just barely managing to stop herself from stomping her foot. "We're not together-together, everyone knows that!"

"Everyone thinks you are!"

"Well, everyone's wrong, cause we're not!"

"Does that matter?"

"Does it matter that you suspiciously had a dress that fit you surprisingly well for a last minute change for the dance?"

"Th-that was because…"

Why were they arguing? This whole meeting was supposed to be brainstorming ideas to get Jaune to admit he was head-over-heels for Pyrrha! And to get him to do something about it!

"Raaaaawr!" Nora faked a roar, shaking her head before leaning over to shake Jaune hard. "Stop arguing with me and we can get to work! The sooner we do, the sooner I prove I'm right and you two belong together, and I can have Ren's pancakes!"

"…Why can't you have pancakes before then?"

"Because you won't let me tell Ren and its hard keeping secrets from him and if he asks, I don't know if I can keep it a secret, and if I spend too much time with him, he'll ask what we're doing and I'll have to lie or something and it'll be all bad!" Nora babbled as if it were obvious, not bothering to see if Jaune even understood what she was talking about. To her, it really was obvious why she was doing her best to avoid having a conversation of that kind with Ren, so it should be obvious to everyone else as well.

When Jaune didn't respond, Nora nodded her head once, deciding his silence was his form of approval. "So, I have lots of ideas so Pyrrha finally knows that you like her! Idea number one! You can spell it out in rose petals in the courtyard, really big so she can't help but notice it!"

"What if it's windy outside? It'll just look like Ruby ran by." Jaune had clearly decided to just listen and hope Nora ran out of steam quickly. He wasn't even protesting about how much he and Pyrrha were 'just friends' anymore!

Then again, that could be because Nora had made it extremely obvious that she knew that wasn't the case, but still… he could show some more enthusiasm! He was so excited about his outgoing ways to ask Weiss out!

"Well, blah to the wind! Fine, idea number two! You could record a big musical dance number and put it up so the world can see it and Pyrrha will understand your love for her!" Nora was rooting for that idea honestly, knowing full well that Jaune could pull off the dancing portion of it. She'd seen him at the dance, had seen how surprisingly _smooth_ he'd been, and she just knew he could dance well enough to make a point.

"Why does everyone need to see it?" Really? A privacy matter? Multiple people were exposed to his attempts to get Weiss' attention, so why should that matter? Ooooooh, but if Pyrrha were more important, maybe it was a different story… it could be proof that he felt even _more_ for Pyrrha than she'd realized!

"Well, then for idea three…"

"Nora? I don't think this is a good idea." He _interrupted_ her? It was surprising enough that she actually stopped talking for a second, blinking in shock while Jaune talked. "I mean… it's Pyrrha we're talking about… and I'm… me."

"And?" Nora couldn't see the problem that Jaune was trying to show her. It was completely obvious that her two teammates liked –maybe even _loved_ \- each other, even if they weren't saying it. Pyrrha was completely transparent about her feelings for Jaune, and he plainly liked her too, but he was too clueless to catch on and make a move!

Of course if Pyrrha wasn't quite so shy and old-fashioned about it, Nora would have been with Pyrrha, trying to have her do something!

Besides, the last time she'd tried, Pyrrha had gotten too embarrassed to do much else besides apologize and make an escape. No, if something was going to happen, Jaune had to make a move and say something.

"W-well… she's…"

"Yes?" Was Jaune about to compliment Pyrrha? In public? And not about her battle skills or something stupid, but something with the proper amount of romantic feeling behind it all?

Apparently not.

"Look Nora, things are… well, it's not like with you and Ren. So, just don't tell anyone, okay?" Jaune was red, and not in the mood to talk about it anymore –at least not with her- if his walking away was any indication.

What did he mean, it wasn't like her and Ren? Of course it wasn't; nobody else in this school could possibly have a relationship like she and Ren did! Okay, so maybe Ruby and Yang, but they were sisters and all, which Ren and she weren't, but that wasn't the point! Why was he bringing Ren back up again anyway?

Nora pouted, deciding not to follow after him. It probably wouldn't help anything, and besides, she had to come up with other plans. Anything at all that would get them out of their comfortable lame shells, and in the mood to actually start dating. Since neither of her teammates –coughvictimscough- were going to do something, it was up to her to make something happen.

Of course, she had to be discreet, so neither one of them guessed what she was up to. If either of them figured it out, Nora had a sneaky feeling they'd retaliate and they'd end up all the way back at square one. Pyrrha would be Jaune's partner and training buddy, and he'd be the team leader, and they'd both make things incredibly awkward because they both wanted to be more but wouldn't say anything.

No, this had to seem like it was all lucky coincidence or their own ideas.

A devilish grin began to grow on her face as Nora began planning, muttering quietly to herself as she skipped back to the room. If she seemed giddy, well, it was just mischievous glee. And if Ren gave her a strange look when she came barging back in, even that couldn't bring her back down to earth.

Something was going to change in Team JNPR, and with her planning it, it could only change for the better!

* * *

 **There we go! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please, leave a review and tell me what you think, what you liked, what needs improvement, anything! Thanks so much for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I hadn't totally lost all my notes for this story, and I totally didn't lose any writing time because school sucks and eats my time away… nope, I was totally just waiting for Season Three to start to get more canon information. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! …..okay, it was a mix of all three. I'm going to try to be better now that I have my stuff together, I promise! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **By the way, if you recognize any of the dialogue... that's because it came straight from the show. I don't claim any of it! Okay, now I'm gonna stop talking and let you read! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three –Pyrrha**_

Pyrrha had no problem with Nora. Actually, she was surprisingly fond of the other girl, and appreciated the energy Nora brought to the team. Not that she didn't enjoy the boys –they were better than she'd expected as well- but it was nice to have an actual female friend.

She didn't think that all her fangirls counted after all.

Still, there were times where Nora caused more concern than should be necessary. After all, why should people worry that their friends could –and would- send themselves and others flying with a giant hammer for the fun of it? That couldn't be normal.

And then there was Nora's disturbing habit of showing more maturity than people thought her capable of. Where did it even come from? Nora was enjoyably childish, easily pleased and more easily distracted than anyone else she'd ever met. This was the girl who would threaten pain with a grin on her face, and enjoyed the adrenaline rush from fighting Grimm.

Nora shouldn't randomly show signs that she _understood_ things, especially things that Pyrrha didn't want anyone to notice.

 _Practice what you preach Pyrrha._

Where had that come from? Why had her excruciatingly painful advice to Jaune suddenly turned into a kind of revelation? When had she figured it out? **When had Nora realized Pyrrha liked Jaune?**

That was the question that had Pyrrha barely able to focus on her classes, especially as Nora started focusing her attention on the blonde. Nora knew, and Pyrrha could only assume that if Nora did, so did Ren.

But did _Jaune_ know? And if he did, why hadn't he said anything about it?

No, if Jaune knew, he would have said or done something. Or at the very least, acted strange around her… stranger than normal.

Pyrrha relaxed slightly at that, leaning up against the wall as she waited for the boy. He was late, but that wasn't unexpected. Nora had already proclaimed she was going to be with him tonight, so…

That thought made Pyrrha frown slightly. What was Nora up to anyway? She'd made some noise about making her go out and tell Jaune how she felt, each suggestion getting more and more embarrassing, until Pyrrha actually fled from the dorm room.

No. Nora was _not_ trying to match-make, was she? Because that would be absolutely horrible, and terrible, and just not…

Sighing, Pyrrha shook her head, trying not to start panicking about it. Nora could have just decided to see how Jaune felt, and once she saw how much he liked Weiss, she'd drop the whole thing. Or she could really have just gotten bored and wanted someone to come up with team plans with.

Though Nora generally had Ren for that.

Pyrrha's head shaking became more vigorous before she gave up on that. It wasn't like the thoughts were getting shook out of her head anyway. Maybe all she could do was accept that trying to figure Nora out was a lost cause.

How could she understand what was going on in her teammates head anyway? As much as she liked Nora, they didn't seem to have anything in common besides teammates. To Pyrrha, Nora was like a force of nature; you can try to understand, but then something will change and it'll run you over.

It was just unfortunate Nora always got it in her head that she could do something, and then actually attempt it, regardless of the people around her.

How did… No, Pyrrha shook her head once more. She wasn't going to think about Nora anymore, not tonight. Everything was fine, nothing was exploding, and things with Jaune and her were _normal_.

If she wanted more than 'normal', well, Pyrrha had learned not to expect too much when it came to personal relationships. She was still learning how to navigate through _friendship_ , so she was content with not being 'together-together' with Jaune.

Really.

"Hey Pyrrha…" Pyrrha blinked, looking up to see Jaune standing in front of her, scratching his head sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late."

"No, it's fine! Nora already told me, so…" It took a moment to gather her thoughts, smiling easily as Jaune seemed to have to do the same thing. Pyrrha honestly hadn't expected Jaune to be this early to begin with, not with Nora dragging him around. Taking a deep breath, glancing to the side as if she wasn't really interested, Pyrrha managed a quick question. "What did Nora want anyway?"

"Oh, she…. W-well… heh heh…" Jaune stalled, his face turning slightly red as he scratched his head again. "I didn't really get it. Ren wasn't there, and she started ranting, so…"

Understandable. Ren was a very important part of understanding the meaning behind Nora's babbles, meanings most normal people wouldn't understand because she talked about so much so fast. Still, would Jaune be so embarrassed just because he didn't understand what Nora wanted?

Suspicious, Pyrrha took a closer look at Jaune, but couldn't begin to guess what Nora wanted. She couldn't even ask, because if she did, it might hint at feelings she wasn't ready for him to know about yet.

Pyrrha might be strong, but she didn't see the need to have her heart irrevocably broken. If nothing changed between them, at least there was some hope, however fragile it might have been.

Even if that hope was simultaneously uplifting and painful.

"Then let's get started." She wasn't acting too odd, was she? She didn't even know what _normal_ was for her anymore, not since realizing what her increased heart rate around Jaune meant. Sometimes it felt like she was making a fool of herself, while everyone else just saw her as this composed warrior.

She rarely felt like that warrior anymore… only when they were training. It was where she felt sure of herself, where Pyrrha knew what she was doing. Being on the roof, sparring and talking with Jaune… those were the moments that felt so right.

It was a good thing, a very good thing, that Nora wasn't insisting on trying to change it. The way things were… for now, these moments were good enough.

Pyrrha didn't feel the need to ask for more.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Training had gone well… pleasantly well. There were only a few awkward silences, and Jaune had improved greatly since they'd first started training together. Plus, whatever Nora had been doing with him hadn't distracted him, so it couldn't possibly have had anything to do with Pyrrha's secret feelings.

It had been a good night after a stressful day, so Pyrrha had been looking forward to the next day being calm and worry-free.

She had been very wrong.

On the surface, nothing seemed to be wrong at all. Pyrrha had taken an early morning shower, as usual, and when she came back, Jaune was reading a comic on his bed, and Nora was bouncing on Ren's bed, begging for pancakes. It was just another day in Room JNPR.

Except for one blaring exception. Ren, for reasons Pyrrha couldn't begin to guess, was _ignoring_ Nora's increasingly loud demands for pancakes.

 _Did something happen?_ Ren might refuse, but Pyrrha had never actually seen him ignoring Nora like this. He was giving her a few one word responses, but for the most part, Ren had his face buried in textbooks.

"Fine! Be boring then! Jaune!" Nora jumped from Ren's bed to Jaune's, very narrowly avoiding landing on top of him. "You should make pancakes!"

"I can't make pancakes! That's… Pyrrha!" Jaune sent her an easy grin, sitting up to avoid Nora's bouncing. "Ready to head to breakfast?"

Nora paused and sent Pyrrha a devilish grin, her demands for pancakes forgotten. "Oh, Pyrrha's totally ready for breakfast! You and her should go… right now!"

 _No…_ "Aren't you coming?" _What is she up to now? Or does she just want us gone so she can persuade Ren to make her pancakes?_

"I'm not ready! And Ren is…"

"Ready for breakfast." Three surprised pairs of eyes shot over to the boy, none of them having realized he had packed his books away and gotten ready. "Weren't we going to say goodbye to Team RWBY as well?"

"That's today? That means we're leaving tomorrow and I haven't packed my stuff at all!" Pyrrha was torn between being dismayed that Nora wasn't ready, or amused at the look on her face. "Ren! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did."

"When?"

"Every day before yesterday."

"Why not yesterday?"

"Because…"

"Maybe we should get down there!" Jaune bravely broke into their conversation, gesturing towards the door. "Or we'll miss them, you know?"

Pyrrha caught the look Jaune sent her, glancing over at the other half of their team. She would admit, she didn't actually know Ren all that well, even after all this time, but even Pyrrha could tell Ren wasn't in a good mood. He was even more… withdrawn than normal.

"I'm sure Ruby and the others would be happy to see us," Pyrrha tried valiantly, hoping that Nora would agree to meet up with their friends. She was normally the one who tried to drag them to Team RWBY's activities to begin with.

"But then we have to wait for food!" Nora complained, sending Ren a small pout, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I'm hungry!"

"But we won't see Ruby for a while… and she might have food!" Pyrrha was pretty sure Jaune made up the last bit on the spot, hoping that Nora wouldn't see it as a lie. Still, as long as it did the trick, Pyrrha wasn't going to complain. It was still way too early in the morning for Nora's antics, and Ren wasn't doing anything to distract her.

"…Fine! Off to see Ruby and others!" Sometimes, Pyrrha wondered if Nora even knew who any of the others were. She mostly seemed involved in Ruby, bringing the younger girl into events, such as the infamous food fight. Maybe because Nora acted so much younger herself?

It was an… interesting walk down to the courtyard. Without Ren to act as a bumper, Nora's energy seemed to send her in every direction. First, she was skipping ahead of all of them, then she was trying to drag Pyrrha faster, then yelling at Jaune to walk with Pyrrha… all while never slowing her pace in any way. By the time they'd made it near Team RWBY's departure point, Pyrrha was ready to go right back to bed. It was with great relief that Pyrrha saw the girls of Team RWBY standing in front of them, followed by surprise from what she heard Ruby saying.

"…Looks like we're going to save the world with Doctor Oobleck…" The younger girl's voice grew less and less enthusiastic as she continued. "Okay, yeah, when you say it out loud, it sounds worse."

"Save the world?" Of course, Nora couldn't resist jumping in without thinking about it. "You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt! Sad! Maybe a little hungry… that last one's not your fault though… Ren!"

There was no way that no one didn't notice the atmosphere between the two partners changed so drastically, so Pyrrha was infinitely grateful that Jaune decided to break in and distract everyone.

"Sound exciting! Where're you going?" Jaune broke in easily, diffusing the tension without seeming to think about it.

"Oh, just outside the kingdom." Ruby's answer was uncharacteristically vague, but Pyrrha figured that maybe she was just leery about going on a mission with Doctor Oobleck. For a student who dreamed of an action-filled, glamorous life of a Huntress, he wasn't exactly the mentor someone would picture.

"Hey! So are we!" Nora's answer didn't sound as excited as she had been when they chose the assignment, but Pyrrha knew differently. The other girl might be annoyed at Ren, and hungry, which accounted for her lack of energy, but Pyrrha knew Nora would get herself hyped up very shortly if given the chance.

"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village," Pyrrha took control of the explanation to prevent an inevitable explosion of Nora. No one needed that so early in the morning.

For once, Ren decided to come into the conversation, perhaps to stop Nora from saying anything else. "We set out tomorrow."

"Then you can party with us tonight!" She did her best, and thought she succeeded, in hiding her discomfort when Sun and Neptune showed up. Honestly, they were more acquaintances than anything else, and Pyrrha wasn't sure how she felt about them. The rest of their team was always conspicuously absent, and they seemed to get along better with Team RWBY than JNPR.

At Doctor Oobleck's call, the girls of Team RWBY sent them all sheepish smiles, not looking as if they were looking forward to what they were getting into.

Pyrrha could sympathize. She wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day either; no training or classes planned? What was she going to do with the day if Nora and Ren were fighting –or as close to fighting as they ever got?

She was right to be worried.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

It looked like there were dark times ahead for Team JNPR. Not even the promise of extra dessert –a very rash promise from Jaune- could bring peace to Nora, or stop her from continuously pestering Ren for pancakes he was obviously unwilling to make.

"We should…"

"Ren! Why won't you make me pancakes? Did I do something wrong? Is there a pancake shortage? ARE PANCAKES GOING EXTINCT?"

Pyrrha knew that wasn't possible, but there was just the slightest bit of amusement at Nora's panicked question. It might be causing them quite a few problems, mostly with Ren's increasingly _dark_ mood, but her extreme concern was entertaining.

"We're going to be late," Ren ignored Nora's question, waiting for his teammates by the door. Actually, he wasn't even looking at Nora, but at the window instead, as if he was ready to jump out of it.

Despite Nora being amusing, Pyrrha had already realized that an explosion could happen at any time. If there wasn't a distraction, or pancakes being made, the JNPR room could be utterly destroyed.

Luckily, Pyrrha was good at finding something else more important to focus on. "Jaune? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… yeah?" As he didn't sound convinced, Pyrrha was far from being convinced herself. Something was obviously wrong, and she was really hoping it _wasn't_ because of Ren and Nora's arguments; the last thing they needed was more trouble between them.

"Are you sure?" Maybe he just needed a push, and that would be enough of a distraction to get their mission started in peace.

"Yeah, it's just… I got a weird call from Ruby last night…" Somehow they managed to get headed down to their airship while Jaune explained the strange call, and the way it suddenly cut off before Ruby could say anything.

"I'm sure they're fine," Pyrrha tried her best to reassure Jaune; there was no real need to worry after all. Team RWBY had always made it through whatever dilemmas came their way, and besides, they had Doctor Oobleck with them! …Actually, that last part wasn't that reassuring.

Worrywart that he was, Jaune obviously wasn't very convinced. "You think?"

"Probably a butt-dial!" Thankfully, Nora had forgotten the pancakes, skipping happily along to the airship. She even seemed quite forgiving towards Ren, thoughts of pancakes completely replaced with glee at being "deputies" for their mission today.

"Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field. We should be focusing on our own mission." And there it was! Ren had the right idea; they had their own mission today, and they didn't need to worry about Team RWBY.

"We're gonna be deputies!" There was Nora's priority… the fun part of it all.

"I've just got this feeling… I don't know…"

"Jaune…" Pyrrha wasn't sure if she was managing to hide her irritation, but she was certainly trying. If it wasn't enough that Jaune talked about Ruby _a lot_ , today was about their mission. Jaune should just… she didn't know, put those worries aside for a while and focus on them?

Focus on her.

 _No, bad thoughts Pyrrha!_ Pyrrha mentally shook herself mere seconds before the sirens went off. _Is that…_

"We're changing our mission." It was moments like these, moments when something crazy and unexpected happened, that she remembered why Jaune had been chosen as their leader. He could, and would, make decisions on the fly, and with enough confidence that no one would question them. "Everyone, on board."

Pyrrha was first onto the ship, with Nora –surprisingly quiet and anxious Nora- close behind. Ren, after a brief exchange with Jaune, was right behind, taking his spot next to Nora without any qualms. It was as if the sirens had erased any of the tension between them, which was good, but an attack on the city was not!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

There wasn't much she could remember about the fighting; in all honesty, Pyrrha didn't remember much about any of her serious fights. In the end, the training just took over, and there wasn't more to it. Block with shield, get some distance, attack from afar… use your polarity to gain some leverage… and at the end of the day, hope your training is enough to keep you alive.

Still, there were some absolutely terrifying moments that she could remember very clearly. When they first made it, and they had to split up… she knew it would help more, but Pyrrha hadn't been completely sure she wanted to leave Jaune to fight alone. They had partners for a reason, even if they couldn't always work together!

And when that Ursa attacked Jaune… there was a moment where her heart leapt in her throat, and she was ready to leap forward, to get there in time… and then that moment of pride when she realized that yes, the training was paying off, because Jaune could defend himself now. He'd gotten so far in just one semester with extra training, it was almost astonishing that no one had started training him before. Just imagine where he could have been with serious training!

There were other moments where her teammates flickered through her mind, but nothing too serious… mostly just Jaune. But the fight was over relatively quickly with the appearance of Team CFVY and the robots, and the panic was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

Still… she could really do without the Grimm attacks orchestrated by psychopathic murderers. At least until they graduated… at the very least!

"Pyrrha?" Nora bounced up into her view, forcing the other girl to pay attention to her smaller companion. "Are you listening? They're taking us back now! We can go to school and get some food!"

"Is food the main concern right now?" Was this what having a little sister was? Being constantly amused against your will, with a side helping of annoyance?

"Of course! And why not? The bad guys are gone, the city is safe, none of us were injured, and Ren even promised to make us pancakes! Isn't that awesome! So we have to get back, so we can all get some rest and feel even better!" Maybe it was because Pyrrha was exhausted, or maybe she'd just gotten better at deciphering Nora's rants, but that almost made some kind of sense. All safe, home, rest, pancakes…

 _It all went full circle, didn't it?_ Pyrrha shook her head, allowing Nora to lead her to the rest of their team, not bothering to hide her grin. Still, at the end of the day, pancakes sounded pretty good to her too.

* * *

 **And that is the end of this chapter! I know, it got a little weird at the end, but from my experience, after training a bunch, I don't remember a lot about what I trained for. So there wasn't a lot of** **info from Pyrrha's head that would be translated well in story form… yeah. Not gonna babble. I hope you all enjoyed this; I will try to get the next chapter out much sooner –no promises though! Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, I'm back! Look, I actually got it out super fast! Well, super fast for me... school has slowed down a bit, and I've had more free time to actually start writing things. Okay, so this is Jaune, and well... he was really really really hard to write for some reason. Just a warning! Anyway, I hope you enjoy -and I own nothing!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Four –Jaune**_

If there was anything more awkward than being surrounded by people, it was being surrounded by people that were suddenly paying more attention than was necessary to him. He hadn't done anything remarkable to warrant this kind of attention; going to help was something that _anyone_ would do.

It was for that reason that Jaune made sure he was hidden behind the pillar, with easy access to the punch bowl.

How did Pyrrha do it? How did she manage to cope with all this attention, all the time, and not go absolutely insane? Jaune had thought being a "hero" would come after graduation; he hadn't expected to get all this attention for something like this. They were still students, and they were getting looks that most reserved for full Hunters and Huntresses.

Jaune couldn't wait until the Vytal Festival truly got started, so there was something to talk about besides the Grimm attack. Maybe then people would stop following certain socially awkward people around and focus on something else.

"Jaune!" How? How did someone find him? The attention had been nice at first, especially from the girls, but now it was just…

"Nora." Of course it was Nora who found him; Nora would never dream of letting a teammate hide during a party. Especially since she especially seemed to enjoy her newfound fame, and enjoyed telling the story with more and more embellishment every time. If you listened to her tell it, Team JNPR had rushed in to save the day (which was true in a way), Pyrrha had slain a dozen Nevermores (not true; it was really just one), Ren had gone ninja and jumped out a building to save a running child (actually kind of true, though it was the front door and the child wasn't in any imminent danger), and as the turning point of the battle, Jaune had led the charge fearlessly into a crowd of Ursi.

It was no wonder people wouldn't let it go; Nora was only making it worse!

And now the girl was trying to drag him from his comfortable hiding spot, into the crowd of people who hadn't seen him yet. Distraction! "Nora, I think Ren is looking for you."

What was wrong with him anyway? Jaune thought he would have been happy to gain this kind of attention; even Ruby, who was arguably more socially awkward than Jaune, was enjoying all the attention!

Then again, Ruby had that fascination with weapons and fighting Grimm, so talking about them was kind of her specialty.

"Aw, Ren's fine, all fine! But I came here to ask you something!" Nora pointed in the crowd, jumping a little to see over heads. "I can't find Pyrrha; do you know where she was going?"

Pyrrha left? She was scarce during the dance too… for all her fame, she had discovered secrets to hiding Jaune hadn't learned yet. He could kill two birds with one stone: find Pyrrha for Nora, and get out of here.

Wait… find Pyrrha… for Nora?

"Nora… this isn't about… well, what we talked about before, is it?" If Nora was trying to match-make after Jaune had made it clear not to…

"What? No!" Nora's eyes widened, and she shook her head quickly. "No, Glynda was looking for Pyrrha, but she found me and Ren, and we didn't know where she was! So I thought I'd ask you, because you guys always know where the other is, kinda like with me and Ren, so…"

Glynda needed Pyrrha? That was easy enough to check, and if that was a lie, he knew that Nora was lying about matchmaking. Well, that should be simple enough to figure out… Jaune just had to find Pyrrha and all the mysteries would be solved.

"I'll go look for her. You enjoy the party." Yes! Escape!

"Alrighty! Off you go!" Nora pushed him forward with more force than was necessary before she skipped off towards Ren, jumping on her partner from behind.

Jaune shook his head, managing to make it through the crowd without tripping over someone or making a mess. It was insane sometimes, the way his dance training could make him graceful or the way it could abandon him altogether and send him tumbling through a room.

 _Now, if I were Pyrrha, where would I be?_ Not inside, that was for sure. Inside was where all the adoring fans and crazed reporters were. If he were Pyrrha… if he were Pyrrha…

Well, if Jaune were Pyrrha, he'd probably be used to this by now, but that wasn't helpful.

 _Seriously, where could Pyrrha be? There aren't that many places to hide; I would know. Still, even if Pyrrha was hiding, she'd stay nearby, in case she was needed… but still not inside. She's pretty private, so…_

To the balcony. And if Pyrrha wasn't there, Jaune would check the roof; either option seemed the most likely to find a missing Pyrrha.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Just judging from all the couples making out on the balcony, Jaune reasonably assumed that Pyrrha was not going to be there. Not only because she was single as far as anyone knew –and he was not going to deny the relief he felt about that- but also because the first time they'd seen Coco and Fox's PDA, Pyrrha had gone bright red and practically ran out of the room.

She wasn't going to be around multiple people engaging in similar activities.

So, off to the roof he had gone, where his efforts were rewarded. There his partner was, looking out towards the city, so still she might have been a statue. "Hey Pyrrha."

"Jaune?" It had taken her a moment to respond, but the small smile was certainly reward enough for his patience. "I thought you were at the party."

"Well, you know, it was a little tame for my tastes," When in doubt, bring out the confidence. Or the bravado, whatever you wanted to call it. "After a Grimm attack, such normal parties seem so dull."

"So, you were tired of all the people crowding you?" Pyrrha knew him well enough to cut through the jokes, her smile growing larger by the second. He tried to deny it –hey, it was all good attention for once- but Pyrrha definitely knew him better than that. "Jaune, please, we've all seen how uncomfortable you get whenever someone mentions it. Why do you think Nora insists on telling the stories so often?"

"Because she gets a kick out of all of it?" That was a good thought though; she seemed particularly interested in spreading everyone else's accomplishments around this time.

"Jaune, Nora thinks of you as a brother," Pyrrha was relaxed enough to laugh easily, moving closer with a shake of the head. "So she teases you in ways that she knows are going to embarrass you."

Jaune blinked, shoving his hands in his pockets with an embarrassed grin. "Has she told you all this?"

"No, but she didn't have to. Ren mentioned it," Pyrrha leaned up against the wall, eyes lit up as she explained. It took Jaune a moment to focus; when Pyrrha looked at him that way, he tended to lose whatever train of thought was there and…

"Jaune?" And he'd done it again. No wonder girls didn't like him back; it always looked like he was ignoring them! Even though no, he didn't want Pyrrha to know that he liked her, so maybe that was a good thing, but he didn't want her to think that he didn't like her at all, and…

"Jaune!" A light shove –light for Pyrrha anyway- got his attention back, though combined with his lack of attention, he found himself on the ground first. "Sorry!"

"It's fine, I'm fine, what were you saying?" Acting as if he'd wanted to be on the ground the whole time, Jaune sent his partner a cheesy grin and a wave.

"…Nothing." Oh no. Did he make her mad because it looked like he was ignoring her? That was the last thing he wanted!

"No, really, I just lost my train of thought. Thinking of Nora's… stories." Use Nora as an excuse, because let's face it, she makes a great one. She's always pretty distracting anyway.

That seemed to be a plausible excuse to Pyrrha, who ended up sitting next to Jaune on the ground easily. "Is she still telling everyone that she flew through the city on Magnhild, taking out the Nightstalkers on the way?"

"No, but she's upgraded you to killing dozens of Nevermores as well as a King Taijitu."

Pyrrha managed to laugh, leaning back slightly to look up at the sky. "How many Grimm were there again?"

"Uh, I don't know. Last of Nora's count, nearly a thousand. Actual account, probably closer to a hundred. Can't tell, since Team CFVY and the robots took a lot out." Jaune lay flat on his back, in no hurry to move and get back to the party. "It seems kind of surreal though… I mean, I know Nora does it with every story she tells, but I don't hear anyone talking about what really happened."

"The stories sound better if you stretch the truth a little," Pyrrha hesitated slightly before lying down next to Jaune, her arm brushing against his. "Sells better. Makes heroes that last generations."

"But we weren't heroes! Well, you were, but me? I was just doing what seemed right, and I was nowhere near what Nora said I was," It was so easy to talk to Pyrrha that it all slipped out. "People are making this big deal about how we were there, and how Team RWBY was there, but no one's mentioning how blocks of the city were destroyed, and how people were dying, or even how the Grimm made it to the city in the first place! It's just… just…."

"They put you on a pedestal and you don't think you deserve it?" Pyrrha broke in easily, almost casually, though when Jaune looked at her, she was determined not to look back.

"Y-yeah… sorry, I know it sounds stupid, it's just-"

"No, it sounds reasonable," Pyrrha interrupted him again, but she actually looked at him this time. "It's uncomfortable, and strange, and people don't really see you for who you are, just one thing that happened. I get it Jaune."

"Y-yeah…" Of course she did, and Jaune was an idiot for not seeing that sooner. He had thought Pyrrha was used to attention, but he hadn't realized that she had to deal with stuff like this _all the time_.

There was a moment of silence, and oddly enough, it wasn't awkward. Jaune normally filled silences with his own thoughts, while Pyrrha would always listen and reply back, but this was… nice. After all the chaos, and the noise, and the general craziness of the past few days in particular, it was nice to find some quiet.

And the roof was practically always abandoned, so in a sense, it was _their_ spot. It was where they trained, and where they just… talked. Even if something was going on, it was always easy enough to escape to the roof, and no one ever thought to look up here.

"Hey Jaune?" It had been a long time since either one of them had spoken, and the sounds of the party were starting to die down. "I…"

Jaune looked over, a relaxed grin growing on his face. This was a good spot to be, someplace comfortable and private, with the best partner someone could ask for next to him. "Yeah?"

"I… Have you noticed Nora and Ren have been acting strangely?" For some reason, Jaune had the feeling that wasn't what she'd wanted to say, but he didn't want to pry if she didn't want to talk to him.

Needing to force it slightly, Jaune laughed a little. "Nora always acts a little strangely; I think Ren's the only one who really understands everything. But Ren…"

Actually, what was going on with Ren? He'd been even quieter than usual, and really standoffish towards Nora recently. "Maybe someone mentioned Ren and Nora being 'together-together'? He always gets a little off after that."

"But for so long? And so he won't make pancakes?" Pyrrha sat up, a worried expression crossing her face. "I'm not sure… should we keep an eye on them?"

"Well…" They did have to keep the team together after all. But Ren seemed fine now, especially since the breach. "I think they're okay… for now. Last I saw, she was dragging Ren out into the party."

"And he let her, so they're fine," Pyrrha relaxed, glancing back to the door. "Speaking of the party though…"

Jaune barely held back a groan at the thought of going back into the crowds. "Do we… oh right!"

He'd nearly forgotten! He'd gotten so comfortable talking to Pyrrha that he'd forgotten he was looking for her for a reason! Pyrrha was sending him the concerned look, the one that said he was acting a little crazy. "Glynda was looking for you!"

"What? Jaune!" Pyrrha was on her feet in seconds, making sure she didn't have any dirt on her clothes. "Is that why you came up here?"

"Uh… kind of?" Yeah, he was a little late… hopefully whatever Glynda needed wasn't time-sensitive.

"I'll go find her, and then meet you at the party." Oh, now that was harsh. Sending him _alone_ to the party? …Okay, maybe he deserved it a little.

Maybe he'd find another pillar to hide behind.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

But the dream of sneaking back into the party was unrealized. "Jaune!"

Of course it would be Nora drawing attention to him, although thankfully, a lot of the guests had already left. "Did you find Pyrrha? Glynda was coming around _again_ and I think she was going to rope me and Ren into looking too, but I told her you were on it, and…"

"Pyrrha went to find Glynda." Jaune sent a desperate look towards the punch bowl, wondering if he could escape and get some punch before hiding.

"Jaune! If Pyrrha's looking for Glynda, and Glynda's looking for Pyrrha, then they'll end up walking in circles around each other, and then they'll _never_ find each other! It happened to me once when Ren and I got separated at a carnival back home, and he was running around looking for me while I tried to get back to him and a creepy clown had to stop us from missing each other! And this party doesn't even have a creepy clown!"

"The clown wasn't creepy," Ren appeared with two cups of punch, handing one to his overly excited partner. "You just didn't like how he accidentally popped your balloon."

"Who pops a child's balloon?" Nora went into a rant about the indignity of losing balloons, one that went ignored by the two boys.

"Was Pyrrha alright?" Ren asked, taking a sip from his own cup.

"She had the right idea. Escape until the crowd died down," Jaune replied, eyeing a particularly predatory-looking group of girls. "Ren, is it just me, or has this gone a little… overboard?"

Ren turned to glance over his shoulder at the girls, and in anyone else, a look of horror flashed in his eyes. "Nora…"

The girl broke off mid-rant, then followed Ren's gaze to where his attention was, and the expression on her face would have sent Ozpin running for the hills. To the poor girls who had gained her displeasure, it was even worse.

Jaune didn't think they'd stop looking over their shoulders for months.

"Hmph!" Nora latched herself onto Ren's arm, sticking her tongue out at the retreating group. "They've been doing that all night!"

Jaune's eyes narrowed at the two partners, wondering if he'd missed something. Was Nora always that possessive over Ren? They didn't look like partners, or best friends, but more like boyfriend with jealous girlfriend!

Nora caught the look and stuck her tongue out at Jaune this time. "They're being all clingy because of the attack! It's okay to admire our awesome fighting skills, but they don't get to be all leechy with my best friend when they don't know him!"

"Okay…" Well, if Ren wasn't going to complain, Jaune supposed he had no reason to. After all, she was only chasing away some of the more dangerous girls. "Hey!"

"What?" Nora glanced up at him innocently, taking seconds to eye another girl coming closer warily.

"If you're warding off girls for Ren, you couldn't help me when I was mobbed?" Neither Jaune nor Pyrrha had been happy that day, when he'd practically been carried off when they were eating lunch. It had taken Glynda's intervention to make sure he wasn't actually kidnapped by the crazy girls.

"I was eating!" Nora protested, finishing her punch with a grin. "Besides, Pyrrha was quick enough to grab Glynda and then go find a good sniping position!"

"Sniping…"

"In case Glynda couldn't find you in the crowd of people," Ren explained, although it was only more confusing than a real explanation.

"But…"

"It's easier to spot someone with a higher vantage point," Pyrrha made Nora jump when she appeared behind her, and yes, she had punch that she was handing to Jaune. "I wasn't going to shoot anyone."

"I still say we should have broken their legs…" This musing from Nora seemed more directed at strangers rather than the team, and it had the very entertaining effect of clearing more space around them. Apparently, Nora's affinity for breaking bones had become very common knowledge.

"We all ended up alright, although you didn't have to laugh the whole time," Pyrrha was trying to scold, Jaune could see it, but in hindsight…

It was still terrifying from his point of view, but he could see the humor in it. If only it had happened to someone else.

"Did you find Glynda?" Ren held his punch higher as Nora tried to steal it, looking over her head at Pyrrha easily.

"Yes. She was just… a pat on the back, I suppose?" Pyrrha shrugged; after the attack, everyone was getting some kind of praise from the teachers. Even Jaune had gotten acknowledgement –Professor Port was the first to individually congratulate anyone.

"Makes sense! Glynda likes Pyrrha after all!" Nora was practically climbing towards Ren's punch, giggling maniacally when he gave in and handed it to her. "Because Pyrrha's awesome like that!"

"Not really… I think it's that I don't destroy the school whenever I come up with an idea."

"One time!" Nora protested, bouncing on her heels.

"One time, plus another five," Jaune teased, reaching out to mess up Nora's hair absently. He grinned at his partner over Nora's head, more relaxed now that the crowds had dissipated due to the late hour or fear of Nora. "Not counting the food fight."

"I didn't destroy the cafeteria!"

"Just the roof when you sent Yang flying," Ren joined in, snagging his punch back long enough for a quick sip.

"But… but… this isn't fair! You're all teaming up on me!" Nora pouted, looking as if another taunt would have her stomping her foot. "Even you Ren!"

"Don't worry Nora, we're just teasing," Pyrrha relented, putting a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "Do you want more punch?"

"Punch? Okay! Me and Ren will grab some!" The idea was enough to have her grinning again, grabbing at Ren's arm until they were moving away from their teammates.

"Never a dull moment?" Jaune noted, sipping at his own punch with a wry smile.

"With Nora? No, never," Pyrrha smiled back, glancing over her shoulder. "It's a different kind of training, working with her."

"I don't know…" Jaune shrugged, leaning a little closer. "She kind of reminds me of my sister. They have nothing in common, but she reminds me of my sister. The younger one."

"Jaune, that makes no sense," Pyrrha pointed out, leaning her head to the side.

"It's just… they both have lots of energy… in very different ways," Jaune tried to explain, not sure where he was going with this. His family was very important, but… well, it wasn't as if they knew what he was doing right now.

"But nothing in common?" Pyrrha looked amused, shifting her weight just slightly, showing Jaune that she was interested. He had fallen hard, that he noticed all of these movements and nuances in her behavior.

"Nothing at all. Nothing." Jaune shook his head, leaning up against a nearby pillar with a sigh.

Pyrrha laughed, shaking her head easily. "Well, I think it's…" She stopped mid-sentence, glancing over at the sudden commotion by the punch bowl. "Jaune…"

"I know…" Jaune took a deep breath, glancing over where Nora was now jumping around in circles, knocking random people over. "Maybe we should be getting back to the room."

It took a good twenty minutes before the three other JNPR members could convince Nora to leave, but as they all laid down for the night, Jaune thought back to the end of the party.

 _What was Pyrrha going to say?_

* * *

 **So... that was that! I was trying to focus on Jaune's social awkwardness and seriousness instead of his adorable goofiness, but I'm not sure how well it worked out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll try to get up the next chapter up soon! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

This took a lot longer than I wanted it to... thanks so much school, for throwing two projects due at the same time, the week right before finals... well, I did work on this and wanted to get it up as soon as possible! I hope you enjoy, and I own nothing!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Five –Nora**_

"There's a festival! A festival! We should go!" Leaping into their dorm room, Nora practically collided into Pyrrha before flying towards her bed. "There'll be games and candy and people and fun!"

Why weren't they more excited? A festival was fun, even if they weren't going to be beating people up and winning eternal glory for their school years.

"Nora, the Vytal Festival is only…"

"But that's forever away!" Nora cut Pyrrha off with a bright grin. So what if the Vytal Festival was close and their time was probably better spent training? She had a plan, and nothing was going to get in the way, much less some training schedule! "We deserve a treat! And it's just one night in the city; who could complain about that? Even Glynda's going!"

Sure, it was only to ensure nothing got blown up or utterly destroyed, but an authority figure was always good! No one, not even Pyrrha, could complain that there wasn't some kind of supervision!

"We can make it a big thing!" Nora was bouncing on her bed, higher and higher with each bounce. "We can invite Team RWBY, and SSUN I guess, ooh, and maybe even Team CFVY? Come on, when else are we going to have such a perfect opportunity to relax with _everybody_?"

Nora knew that she had won when her teammates sent each other resigned looks and mentally applauded herself, spinning in circles as she jumped on the bed. Everything was going according to plan!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

"You'll be sneaky? Like, super sneaky? They can't know, not at all! No, but I need every little detail you notice!" Nora fell behind her team just enough to know that her call was very private; she was going to get nowhere if she wasn't careful. "And whatever happens, don't let them guess you're there or let them see you! It all has to be naturally orchestrated! Yes! Oh, and don't let them join up with other people; it needs to be just them! And…"

"Nora!" The yell had Nora looking up, waving vigorously over her head.

"Coming Ren! I gotta go. Tell me everything later… text me with lots of updates!" Nora hung up without a goodbye, catching up easily to her team. They had made it easy by stopping, looking back at her. "I'm so excited, there's cotton candy and caramel apples and…"

"A limit on sugar." Ren's words made her pout, but not even that could make Nora truly upset. She just needed the right moment, and then the plan truly went into effect…

"It's for fun! There can't be limits on fun! Then it's not so fun!" Nora returned, skipping past her partner with a laugh.

"I thought Team RWBY was coming?" Of course Jaune would remember that and try to stop her from moving! Of course, Nora had a plan already in case this happened.

"Oh, they said they probably won't make it! Because Weiss and Blake are doing the whole date thing with Sun and Neptune!" Nora had learned this information precisely for this kind of moment. There were no other teams to meet up with them… just JNPR hitting the streets.

And they were looking good doing it! Jaune and Pyrrha had both made an effort to wear something better than their casual clothes… as if Nora didn't know why. Why else would Pyrrha have worn something that showed off very enviable curves, and why else would Jaune find something that wasn't bland or just too similar to his normal outfit? Of course they were trying to impress someone… aka _each other_.

Maybe no one else noticed, but those two were _always_ trying to get each other's attention in those tiny little ways.

"Ruby and Yang could have joined us," Pyrrha noted, glancing around as if the two girls were just waiting for an invitation.

Nora shrugged as if it meant nothing to her either way, though their appearance would mean drastically changing the plan she already had set in motion. "I guess they found other stuff to do! Come on, we'll miss out on the cotton candy and all the fun stuff if we just stand around all day!"

"We could…"

"Ren! Think of the candy!" Nora cut Ren off, grabbing at his hands eagerly to shake them. "And the games! We haven't played festival games in forever and ever!"

"Because the last time you lost a festival game, you broke it because you wanted the bear."

"The bear was fluffy!" Nora bounced in place, explaining herself to a horrified-looking Jaune and Pyrrha. "And besides, the game was rigged! They nailed the bottle down! No one could win that!"

Cheaters. Trying to cheat a nine-year old. Nailing down bottles and cheating. They deserved to have their stand broken. And bones broken so…

"Nora?" Jaune sounded worried as he made his way into her line of sight, frowning slightly. "Nora?"

"I didn't do anything!" Coming back from very justifiable indignation, Nora nearly jumped into the air with how close they all were standing. "I'm innocent! Very innocent! You have no proof!"

"We didn't say anything." Was Pyrrha amused? Was that a smile? Was she laughing? She was! "But maybe you should stay away from any games they have."

"What? But they're fun!" Nora started protesting, having to be dragged towards the food area. "Why can't we play?"

"Nora." Ren tapped her shoulder lightly to get her attention. "Cotton candy."

"Huh? What? Where?" She didn't see it at all! Where was the delicious sugary goodness? Where was… there! It was that way!

"I smell it! Come on Ren! We need it! Cotton candy, cotton candy!" Nora took her chance, grabbing Ren's hand to drag him along, making sure their teammates were lost behind them.

If they caught up… but they wouldn't. Nora was already too fast for them, and she was now trying to lose them.

The plan was officially in motion!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

"Yum nom nom! Sugary goodness!" All she needed for a good night was a cotton candy in each hand and Ren following close behind. "Ren, try some; this one is awesome!"

"No thanks. Nora, shouldn't we be getting back?"

"Nope! They're fine, they're fine!" Nora was well aware of the picture she made, waving cotton candy in the air. She just didn't care so much – things were going just perfectly! "I want to hang out with you tonight!"

Being able to translate Ren's facial expressions as well as she could, Nora could tell that he was pleased… and since he made no moves to rejoin the others, she figured that was a very good thing. Grinning, she bumped her head against Ren's arm until he smiled back and started moving forward.

"We're still not playing games though," Ren pointed out, steering Nora away before she ran into anybody in the crowd.

"Awww! But Ren, I saw a kid with a stuffed dragon! Wouldn't it be so cool to… Ruby!" Nora caught sight of their friend, also sporting two cotton candies –although one was almost finished.

Ruby and Yang both turned, eyes comically wide as they shushed the pair coming up. "Shhhh!"

"What? What is it?" Sneakiness? This was being so sneaky, and Nora was so into the whole sneaky act! "What's going on?"

"We're following Weiss and Neptune!"

"Operation: First Date is a go!"

Lots of romance these days, wasn't there? Jaune and Pyrrha were in the _very slow_ process of getting together, Sun and Blake were obviously a thing, everyone knew Coco and Fox had something going on and…

"Weren't they at the dance together?" Ren asked, not looking at the couple their friends were following.

"Oh! And what about Blake?" Nora was surprisingly fond of the faunus, though they rarely spoke to each other. Being as high-spirited as she was, Nora had a very high respect for people who had such high self-control. That and Blake reminded Nora of Ren. Nothing special.

"Aw, she'll be fine!" Yang had every confidence in her partner, waving off any concerns. "She had Sun have had dates before!"

True… and they were such a cute couple!

"So… what are you two up to?" Yang's innocent question was contradicted by the tone in her voice, something that went unnoticed only by Ruby.

"We're…"

"Ren's going to win me a _gigantic_ stuffed Ursa!" Such an idea only formed because a child happened to walk by with one in her hands.

"Nora, you're not playing any of the games." Ren was firm, but so was Nora and she didn't falter. She was going to be getting that giant Ursa.

"Why not?" Ruby asked, finally looking away from her partner. "They're fun, right Yang?"

There! Someone who understood! They could go play games all night and they could destroy anyone who dared to cheat innocent players!

"Don't ask." Ren raised his eyebrows at her, reminding Nora that he knew her well enough to read her mind. He was being such a party pooper! He could have at least let her explain things!

"Ruby! Weiss moved! We have to follow!"

"Oh! Yang, let's go! Bye Nora, bye Ren!"

They were moving even faster than Nora did! Oh well, she'd get all the details about Weiss' date later… just for research of course! It was only so she could use everything possible against Jaune and Pyrrha!

"Nora?"

"Yes Ren?" Nora focused her attention on Ren with a bright grin. It had been a long time since it was just the two of them like this. Not that she didn't like hanging out with the others –Jaune and Pyrrha were awesome= but she'd missed her Ren Time.

"Your phone." Ren pointed at her bag, looking slightly amused. "It's been ringing."

"Huh? Oh!" How long had it been going off?

 **Nora, where did you and Ren run off to? We've been waiting by the cotton candy.** –Pyrrha

 **Nora, come back! We came here to have fun together as a TEAM, remember?** –Jaune

There were many more like that, but since they were pretty much all the same, Nora wasn't very worried about it. If anything, they were only proving that they were aware of each other as attractive members of the opposite sex, so they couldn't be alone together for social situations. Nora was much more concerned about the other texts she'd gotten.

 **They're both looking for you. Stay away from the cotton candy.**

Well, it was certainly a very good thing that she'd already gotten hers, and Nora was almost finished with one of them.

 **I think they gave up on finding you. Pyrrha bought dinner for the two of them.**

Okay, so Pyrrha had the traditional male role. That was fine, all good, as long as there was some kind of progress between the two of them!

 **Pyrrha fans found them. We helped chase them into a haunted house. I'm not going in there.**

There was a haunted house? Nora knew where _she_ wanted to go later! Costumed ghosts were no match for her, especially when Ren was there!

 **Hey, haunted house worked. Pyrrha's scared of ghosts.**

She was? Hey, Nora didn't know that before! Why would Pyrrha be scared of ghosts? That would come in handy later…

"…Nora? Nora!"

The girl pulled herself away from the phone screen, beaming at Ren. "Yes Ren?"

"Are they alright?" Of course Ren hadn't read over her shoulder to see who was texting her; he was good like that! He would have just assumed it was Jaune and Pyrrha innocently asking where Nora had dragged them off to. Softening, Nora's grin grew wider and she nodded quickly.

"Yeah, they're alright! Awesome! They're just peachy!" Even if nothing else happened, at least there was a good point –something had happened in that haunted house!

Impulsively, Nora put her phone on silent before shoving it to the bottom of her bag. She could get all of these 'date' details later; right now was all for Ren and her!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

"Hey, Ren look! It's a dart game! We could totally win that!" She was super jumpy; maybe that cotton candy and funnel cake and sodas at the same time was a bad idea. Nora figured that Ren had realized this because he had grabbed her hand twenty minutes ago, and hadn't let go since.

Not that she minded –they hadn't held hands like this since they were little. That was way back, before people started asking if they were dating and making a big deal out of it. She hadn't even realized that she missed it still.

"Nora, you…"

"Oh, but look! Giant stuffed Ursa!" Nora beamed up at Ren, making her eyes as wide as possible. "Isn't it cute?"

Ren stared down at Nora, finally sighing after a very long moment. "No destruction."

"Nope!"

"I'll play the game," Ren gave in, shaking his head slightly. "And we're definitely not spending a fortune."

"Okay!" Nora agreed easily, bouncing on her toes excitedly. He may have said he wasn't going to let her play, but if she really wanted to, Nora knew that she could convince him to give her at least one try!

Nora dragged Ren to the game, eyeing it closely. If he knocked all the bottles over with three balls, they would get a small prize. And if he did it three times, they could get the giant Ursa!

That is, if they didn't cheat and weigh down the bottles like jerks.

"It looks so awesome!" Nora stared at the Ursa doll, tugging on Ren's sleeve with her free hand repeatedly. "Look, look, look! Pink spikes! It has pink spikes!"

There was just nothing else for it. She _needed_ that doll. It had _pink spikes_ all over it!

"I get it, I get it," Ren chuckled, something that had become a disturbingly rare occurrence recently. "Three times?"

"Yep! It's just nine throws! At most! Easy peasy!" Nora promised, leaning on the counter cheerfully. "Throws for my friend please!"

"Coming right up little lady." Three balls appeared on the counter in front of Ren, ones he eyed warily before freeing his hand from Nora's. It should be easy enough; they both knew Ren could aim well enough to win –he just didn't want to spend a fortune to do it.

Knowing Ren would need the space, Nora backed away, rubbing her hand absently. It seemed so cold all of a sudden that she wasn't sure what to do about it; were Ren's hands really that warm?

Ren's first ball knocked over every bottle while she wasn't paying attention, but it still earned a bright cheer from Nora. "Good job Ren!"

"That earns a small prize," the man behind the counter offered, but Ren just shook his head in reply.

"Whoo-hoo, you can do it Ren!" The boy sent Nora a look over his shoulder, turning back quickly to aim at the reset bottles.

Nora's grin grew, having caught the amusement in her partner's eyes. He might not go out of his way to find contests or games like this- not like Nora would- but just like her, Ren liked to win.

Nora in particular liked to see Ren win, especially if he was winning games for her.

Two pays done, with a medium prize earned. Just one more win, and that Ursa would be hers! Well, technically, it would Ren's, but it would really be hers.

Ren was gearing up for his throw when Nora leaned up closer, using the counter as leverage to get her lips by his ear. "Hey Ren!"

To her surprise, the throw went completely off, hitting the wall hard as Ren backed away, one hand rubbing at his ear. He sounded nonchalant, even casual, even as Nora could see the slight blush forming. "Yes Nora?"

"I was going to say that you were going to win without a mistake, but I was wrong!" Nora glanced over to where the bottles were still standing, noticing that the man running the booth looked incredibly amused. "What happened? Your aim was so _good_!"

"…You distracted me," Ren pointed out, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Aw, I was just talking!" And invading his personal space, but since she always did that, Nora didn't count it as often as she used to. "I'm sorry!"

She even made her eyes go wide, though she wasn't quite as successful at subduing the grin on her face. Even the blindest person in the world could tell she wasn't really sorry about any of it.

"…Just don't do it again." It should have sounded harsh, but Ren was picking up another ball and talking over his shoulder at her. "You do want the doll, don't you?"

"Yep!" Nora planted herself against the counter, pointing at the bottles. They were the enemy, and Ren was going to destroy them to get the prize! "Destroy!"

"We're not destroying anything," Ren replied, probably more for the benefit of people around them than for Nora. _She_ knew Ren wouldn't ruin anything; he just got dragged around while she created a mess.

"I know, I know!" Nora bounced in place, still pointing at the bottles. "Come on Ren, you can so do this!"

Ren sent her a look that plainly said that _of course_ he could do this, but she had to give him space and some quiet. In response, Nora zipped her mouth shut, beaming happily.

He didn't look away for a long moment, and when he did, it was with a quiet sigh. It didn't deflate Nora's attitude at all, and she was biting her lip as Ren threw the ball one last time, knocking over the bottles.

"Yes! You did it, you did it!" Nora squealed, leaping towards Ren, arms wrapping around him as she bounced.

She hadn't doubted he could do it, but she was still happy that he had done it so easily; he had an almost perfect streak! "And now we can have the Ursa! Can't we? It'll look so cool in the dorm!"

"Yes Nora, we can have the Ursa," Ren replied calmly, waiting to the side patiently as Nora claimed her prize from the man with a very loud squeal.

"It's so awesome! Look Ren, the spikes are _fluffy_! And it's big enough that if I put it on the edge of Jaune's bed and then wake him up, it'll scare him so much, it'll be hilarious!" Nora squeezed the doll tightly, reaching with one hand to hold onto Ren's sleeve easily. "Oh, but if he gets too scared, he might cut it, and that would be horrible! So no scaring Jaune with it!"

She might have gone on babbling about how incredibly cool having a giant Ursa doll would be, despite there being no practical use for it, but she was distracted by another conversation going on nearby.

"See? _Her_ boyfriend wins her things! Why can't you do that?"

"Maybe because I'm broke, and I can't aim to save my life!"

 _Boyfriend?_ Seriously? Why did everyone think that Ren and her were together-together? Friends could win friends giant carnival toys too!

But…

 _No! No buts!_ Nora shook her head, pouting slightly at the now-frustrated couple behind them. How dare they ruin a perfectly good moment of triumph?

"Nora?" Ren had stopped moving, nearly making Nora bump into him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" She was still pouting, but she would refuse to let other people ruin what was a very good night for her! "Why wouldn't I be?"

Nora didn't squirm under Ren's concerned stare, but it was actually a challenge. She didn't know what was up with her right now; Nora had never had trouble shaking off other people's assumptions that Ren and her were a thing before! It was just the crazy romance craze going around at Beacon; that was it!

"…Here." Ren took the doll out of Nora's arm, holding it with just one. Well, she could have done that if the doll wasn't nearly as big as she was! Indignant, Nora was about to protest the theft of _her_ doll, when Ren offered out a hand. "The crowd's getting bigger. I don't want to lose you in it again."

"That was one time!" Still, she didn't refuse the hand, linking their fingers easily. "And we were like… seven! And the man had candy! I didn't mean to lose you!"

Ren raised his eyebrows at her, making her sigh as they started walking again. "And yes, I know, I know, don't take candies from strangers; they're not always nice and give out candy because they're good people! I still remember, I promise!"

Nora let loose another sigh, bringing back the memory easily. "I should have hit him harder; he _lied_ to me! He promised me candy…"

"I will buy you candy," Ren promised, sounding very reluctant. She couldn't say she didn't understand why, not with how much she had already eaten, but more candy was always good!

"Really? Yay!" Nora squealed, hugging Ren's arm with a laugh. "Maybe some caramels? Or maybe I want something chocolatey…"

"One."

"Five!"

"Nora…"

"Okay, three, but that's my final offer!" Nora beamed up at Ren expectantly, her free hand pointed at a candy shop. It was going to be her new favorite shop in the entire city!

"…" The silence seemed to be agreement, and she squealed again, pulling Ren towards the building. If she nearly sent the nearby children flying, they should have moved out of the way sooner; no one got in the way of Nora Valkyrie and her candy!

"Ohhh! Look at all the candy! Ohmygosh Ren, look! I haven't seen these for years!" Nora was instantly detached from Ren, picking up a pack of candies and handing them towards her immediately regretful partner. "Oh, and look! Weren't these your favorite growing up? Still don't understand why you like the whole minty thing, but to each their own! Oh, and…"

"Nora?" The quiet voice broke through her rant like nothing else would have.

"Velvet! Hi!" Nora beamed, wondering why the Faunus would look so panicked. Maybe Cardin was after her again? If so, she could totally break his legs! Or maybe…

"Nora!" Jaune appeared behind Velvet, making Nora nearly jump in the air. Where in the world had he come from?

"Jaune!" No, she could be happy! The night was almost over, no one was in the middle of anything… right? Maybe she should have kept her phone out… "You're here! Where's Pyrrha? Did you see this gigantic Ursa Ren won for me? It was awesome! What have you been doing? You should have been having fun like us!"

Yes… Talk in a deliberately confusing babble, and he would never notice the difference! No one else could decipher her rants like Ren anyway, and he was sending her a very strange look, so she wasn't going to look that way before she broke and spilled the whole deal.

"Pyrrha was…" Jaune glanced over his shoulder to the cash register where their warrior was paying. "She said something about a present."

"A present?" For who? Whom? Nora didn't really care about the grammar in her own head, so she just laughed. "Of candy? I'm jealous! Oh! We should buy lots and lots of candy for the room! For all of us to share!"

"You'd eat it all," Ren pointed out, picking up another bag of candy. "Nora, if you don't pick your candy, I'll pick it."

"But then you'd get the minty stuff, or the cinnamon, and no!" Nora's attention was quickly off of Jaune, and Pyrrha, and anything that might have happened between them. "Don't you dare Ren! I want good candy!"

Nora practically latched herself to Ren's arm, stopping him from reaching for the cinnamon candies nearby. "You need to have more variety than boring old flavors like that! We should get the soda drop candies! They have lots and lots of flavors, and they have fizzy centers!"

"Which you like to throw in actual sodas to see if they'll explode," Ren noted, but he didn't stop her from grabbing the bag and clinging to it as if her life depended on it. Nora beamed, clenching the bag to her chest.

"Of course! I needed to see if it was true! Which it wasn't, so now I can eat the candy without worrying my stomach will explode if I drink soda after!" Nora glanced at some licorice that was nearby, mentally debating with herself. Could she sneak it into their pile and Ren would never notice, and then have extra candy? Or would that be so totally wrong and expected of her that she shouldn't do it?

"I assure you, your stomach will not explode. Not unless you keep eating as much as you do, and then…"

"I haven't fallen for that since we were kids!" Nora snorted, but a second later was pausing to look down at her stomach warily. "It wouldn't actually explode, would it? Or would it more pop, like a balloon that stretched too much?"

"I don't think your stomach would explode or pop," Jaune was following the two of them now, as their way to Pyrrha now involved a wide circle of the store –there were way too many people shopping for candy with their grubby little children taking all of her candy!

"Pyrrha!" Nora nearly crashed into a crowd of children on the way to their teammate, heartened by the size of the bag she was carrying. There had to be _tons_ of candy in there! "You're here! Look at the doll Ren won me!"

"Nora!" If Pyrrha could have looked more surprised, Nora would have been completely shocked. "Where have you been? Jaune and I have been looking everywhere for you!"

Nora merely shrugged, pointing at the Ursa doll Ren was still carrying. "We got cotton candy, and some food, and played some games, and we've been all over! Is that candy for us? Or is it a present for someone else? Or…"

Pyrrha's phone rang in her pocket, reminding Nora of her own silent phone at the bottom of her bag. Yes, she'd silenced it to have more fun with Ren, but what if she'd missed something with Jaune and Pyrrha? What if something bad had happened? What if they'd messed everything up?

"Aaaaaaah!" Nora reached for her phone frantically, earning herself more than a few strange looks. She finally managed to pull her phone out of her bag when Ren put his hand on her shoulder.

"Is everything alright Pyrrha?" Aw, wasn't he the sweetest? Always asking if their teammates were alright, even if things weren't alright, because they were still dancing around feelings that should be acknowledged already!

"Uh, yes. Ruby just texted, saying that they're all going out to karaoke now that Blake and Weiss are done. They asked if we wanted to go," Pyrrha put her phone down slowly, not looking totally enthusiastic about it.

And why not? Karaoke was amazing! Especially if people couldn't sing very well!

"Let's do it!" Nora latched herself to Pyrrha's arm, making her eyes dramatically wide. "Please? We'll even stay together this time, I promise! Please, please, please?"

Pyrrha stared down at the smaller girl for a long moment before sending Jaune a look that was obviously asking for help. "Jaune?"

"Well…" Nora sent the puppy-dog eyes over to Jaune, realizing what Pyrrha hadn't; Jaune was a sucker when it came to the puppy-dog eyes. "A little wouldn't hurt, right?"

 _Yes! Go Jaune!_ Now that Jaune agreed, Pyrrha would agree with him. Nora just needed one…

The eyes went to Ren, who after years of constant exposure, had gained an immunity to them. "We have training tomorrow."

"We'll still train, and be awesome! But we need to unwind too!" Nora detached from Pyrrha to bounce in front of Ren. "I'll even do _extra_ training tomorrow! And Jaune and Pyrrha are always doing extra training, so the only one behind is you!"

Ren looked at Nora for a short moment before sighing. "I'll go if you all go."

"Yes!" Nora hugged Ren tightly, laughing easily to herself. Maybe she'd have to wait a little longer to check her texts, but karaoke with the gang? So worth it!

And if she could get Pyrrha and Jaune to sing a duet together? Even better!

* * *

There's that! Karaoke night is next! Can anyone guess who was texting Nora those updates? This next update might take a while -finals- and I have to decide if I'm going to go for super cheesy songs, or if I want to pull from Roosterteeth's soundtracks (I haven't listened to any of them but the RWBY ones). So, I might be gone from this story for a couple weeks! In the meantime, I'm going to try posting up drabbles and one-shots when I have time!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you in the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Now, uh… this took a while. I've been gone from this story for a while. And I have no real excuses, so… yeah. Anyway, this is NOT going off canon story anymore; there will be some references, but… as of this story, season 3 finale didn't happen. Nothing bad ever happened. Ever.

I do hope to work on the next chapter in the next few days (school sucks, there's a new baby in the family, blah blah blah) but I know that the wait will probably not be as long as before since I found all the stuff again. So, while I own nothing, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Six –Pyrrha**_

Pyrrha had understood the saying 'in-between a rock and a hard space' but whoever had said that had no idea what she was going through right now. This was the true no-win situation.

On the one side, she had Jaune… brave, dependable, trustworthy Jaune, who wasn't able to see that his partner was head-over-heels in love with him, even if someone tried to pound the realization into his head with a hammer… and Pyrrha didn't doubt Nora would have tried just that. If she leaned any closer to that side, Pyrrha would have ended up sitting on his lap –again, another situation she was sure Nora would approve of.

However, on the other side was the doll that Ren had won his partner, taking up a human-sized space on the couch between Nora and Pyrrha. That wouldn't be so bad, except Nora wasn't moving the doll, and the spikes were… intrusive, to say the least. Any closer to that side, and Pyrrha would end up with a spike in her right eye.

"Nora?" Pyrrha called to her teammate quietly, managing to get a look past the doll quickly.

"Yeah?" The smaller girl was curled up against her partner's side, practically passed out already, her head buried in Ren's chest. It wasn't a particularly peculiar sight when it came to those two, but something about it at that moment made Pyrrha a little uncomfortable.

"Could we move the doll?" At least if she asked, there might be some change in this situation.

"His name is Mr. Fluffyspikes," Nora protested sleepily, her head raising slightly. For some absurd reason, Pyrrha felt guilty for intruding, although she knew nothing was going on.

"Can we move… Mr. Fluffyspikes to the ground?" Pyrrha nudged one of the spikes out of the vicinity of her eye, wondering what on earth had possessed Nora to give this _thing_ that name. These spikes were not fluffy in Pyrrha's definition of the word –more like death for her eyes.

"Okay!" As Pyrrha moved the doll, breathing a sigh of relief with the room it gave them on the couch, she caught a glimpse of Ren's smile as Nora curled up closer to him.

 _Oh_ … Maybe that was why she felt so intrusive? Because Ren rarely looked that relaxed if Nora wasn't around, and Pyrrha was distracting her? Maybe…

No. That was crazy… and besides, the other pair had made it painfully obvious that they were _not_ together romantically. Nora had even threatened some of their classmates with Magnhild after a few months of misunderstandings, and Pyrrha didn't want to be on the wrong side of Nora's wrath.

Sighing again, Pyrrha relaxed against the couch, relieved to have more room… not to avoid Jaune, because she certainly didn't want to do that, but…

Well, she didn't need to practically be on his lap. That wasn't completely necessary, especially after she'd made a fool of herself in that haunted house.

Give her an enemy to fight any day, but anything supernatural, and Pyrrha was a mess. In her head, she'd known everything was fake, but with those holograms, and the sounds, and random costumed people jumping out at them…

If Jaune ever told anyone –and she doubted he would- Pyrrha would never live it down. Ever.

Pyrrha held back another sigh, knowing that if she kept sighing, she'd only bring down everyone else's mood. Not like there was much of a mood to bring down… Jaune was quiet enough, and their other teammates were cuddled together on the other end of the couch. She didn't know where Team RWBY was; with the way her night was going, they'd end up not coming and it would have been like this for nothing!

That would be really awkward…

"Ruby! You are not getting any of this!"

"Why not? Weiss said I could!"

"I did not! Yang, if you give her…"

"Ruby!" Nora immediately perked up, almost hitting Ren's chin with the top of her head as their friends entered the room, arguing about something Pyrrha was sure she wouldn't understand. It was only recently she'd realized that other girls were _weird_ … and not Nora-weird, but in a collective girl way Pyrrha had been deprived of.

They worried about boys, and the way they looked and their friendships looked fun but there was teasing and…

Well, maybe Pyrrha understood them better than she thought she did.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Jaune waved a hand at Ruby, sending Weiss a grin that almost made Pyrrha frown. Weiss again… Pyrrha didn't mind her, but…

It wasn't as if Jaune's friendship with Ruby made her jealous, even if those two were particularly close from the beginning. It was just that Weiss was smart and beautiful and everything a guy could want, even if she was nicknamed the Ice Queen.

And Jaune liked her. That was a large part of it, and Pyrrha did feel guilty and petty over such jealousy. If Weiss made Jaune happy, Pyrrha should be happy too… right?

"Is that vodka? Cool! I haven't had alcohol since that party _years_ ago and there were shots and I was the best at shots! I just kept downing them all night!"

"No."

"Ren!"

Pyrrha glanced over at her teammates arguing, relaxing when she saw Nora pouting and joking. Nothing could go truly wrong if Nora was still in a good mood… after all, she'd do a lot of the socializing so Pyrrha could stick with Jaune and it would still be fun!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

This night would never end. Pyrrha leaned against the couch with a quiet sigh, wondering how on earth they were going to get back home. Yang -despite her extremely high tolerance for alcohol- was in no state to go outside; she was more easily provoked to violence now than she normally was. Ruby had somehow managed to get her hands on some of the alcohol -Pyrrha was ready to blame Nora, since she went into full distraction mode earlier in the night- and spent her time alternating between passed out on the ground and dashing around the room.

Thankfully Weiss and Blake were relatively sober, but if they were restraining one of their teammates, the other was wreaking havoc. The employees at this karaoke joint were going to have a horrible time the next morning…

Especially when Nora and Ruby collaborated to create even more chaos… the room barely resembled what it was when they had first arrived. The most active two, the ones that would never again be allowed alcohol, had done some interior decorating to the room, resisting all attempts to stop them… and Yang had continued using the karaoke machine during the process.

Poor Jaune had gotten roped into a shots contest, so he was needing assistance as well, but Ren had miraculously avoided drinking altogether… all in all, about fifty percent of the group was sober enough to make it home, the other half were just piles of walking alcohol.

Pyrrha patted Jaune's head absently, sure that she would never be so bold if they were all sober. But he probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, and it kept him in place and not tripping into tables… again.

"Pyrrha…" Nora suddenly flung herself over Ren, draping over him in an attempt to get to Pyrrha. "Why are you so quiet? You had looooooooooooots of alcohol, you should be happier!"

The redhead blinked, smiling more in an attempt to calm Nora than anything else. "I am happy Nora."

And thankfully her high metabolism -as well as a large number of snacks in her bag- had prevented her from getting too drunk. With any more luck, she'd avoid any hangover symptoms in the morning and could focus on her too more inebriated teammates.

"Okay!" Nora chirped, crawling over Ren to bounce over to Pyrrha happily. "It makes me happy when you guys are happy! I love you guys so much that I want you all to be happy! Like, I want you and Jaune and Ren and Ruby and…"

"We get it," Pyrrha patted Nora's head next, hoping she would calm down. Nora was apparently a very affectionate drunk if the sudden hugging and love-filled rant was anything to go by. "We're all pretty happy Nora."

"But you're not together-together!" Nora whined, flinging her arms -barely avoiding Pyrrha's face- and ended up sprawled between Pyrrha and Jaune. "And it would make you so happy if you were because you like each other and you should…"

Ren patted Nora's arm, distracting her before she could notice Pyrrha's face turning bright red. "Nora, your doll is about to fall."

"What? No, Mr. Fluffyspikes!" Nora was up in seconds, leaping for the doll before burying her face in it, passing out with it as her pillow. Sighing in relief, Pyrrha stood up and stretched, nudging Jaune's shoulder lightly.

"We should probably get home," Pyrrha murmured, noticing Weiss arguing one-sided with her partner to get moving, and Blake practically dragging Yang away from the karaoke machine. Alcohol and this group did not mix very well…

Ren nodded, moving to get Nora up, linking their arms before she could dash away. With any luck, they would make it back to their dorms without any major mishaps!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

"Someone turn off the sun!" Pyrrha heard Nora's groaning from the bedroom, assuming that she was burying her face in her pillows. Amused, the redhead walked back into the room with two large glasses of water, placing one next to her pained teammate.

"The water should make you feel better," Pyrrha explained, not bothered when Nora didn't emerge from her blanket cave. The other glass was placed next to Jaune's bed, although he was still dead to the world as they moved around him.

"I did warn you not to drink so much," Ren glanced at his partner as he pulled out a book, ready to sit and read while Nora nursed her hangover.

"You did -Owwww…" Nora sat up, gripping her head with an irritated groan. "Why does my brain hurt?"

"The six shots, two beers and three miniatures Yang gave you might be it," Pyrrha found the painkillers with a raised eyebrow, pulling out three for the girl. "If it makes you feel better, Yang should be feeling worse than you."

Nora threw Pyrrha a look that could kill before downing the painkillers. "She'd better; she was drinking more than me and you! How are you fine?"

Pyrrha shrugged, sitting down on her bed. She'd always had a high tolerance for alcohol, although she never really had the chance to test it. She just took it for granted, knowing that she would be fine if she did have to drink at some kind of social event. "I didn't drink that much. And I'm pretty sure you drank for two."

"Yeah, cause Ren won't drink!" Nora was ready to rant, despite how badly her head had to be hurting when a groan came from Jaune's bed.

"Nora."

"What Jaune?"

"…Stop yelling. My brain hurts."

Pyrrha shook her head with a quiet smile, exchanging a look with Ren. "There's some water next to you. And painkillers."

Jaune didn't move for a long moment before he took the painkillers, sitting up while rubbing his eyes. "How did we get home?"

Ren flipped a page in his book easily. "Pyrrha carried you and I dragged Nora."

"You didn't carry me?"

"Pyrrha did what?"

The blonde looked horrified and embarrassed as he looked at his partner, rubbing his temples as he tried to remember the previous night. "Pyrrha… I am so sorry; what did I do?"

"Well…" Pyrrha hadn't minded. Not really. "You got dragged into a shots contest with Yang. She won, by the way. And then you got…"

Clingy? Was that the right word?

The fading of her voice had Jaune looking even more horrified at his own behavior, and his apologies almost matched up to Pyrrha's from the beginning of the semester while he tried to do some damage control.

"Jaune. It's really fine." Pyrrha might have sounded colder than she'd meant, but she didn't _want_ Jaune to apologize. She honestly hadn't minded Jaune clinging to her last night, especially since it practically proved he was over Weiss.

After all, he wasn't jumping all over Weiss to keep her in one place.

"Pyrrha?" Nora had transported to Ren's side, eyes wide from her cocoon of blankets. "Are there cookies?"

"…Cookies?"

Ren shook his head, answering for Pyrrha as Nora leaned in closer. "They should probably eat something. I can make breakfast so they don't have to go to the cafeteria."

It might have taught them a lesson about excessively drinking if they did it, but from the looks on their teammate's faces, it would have been cruel and unusual punishment. Pyrrha nodded to Ren, stretching her arms over her head. "I don't think we have cookies. I might have a breakfast bar for you to eat while Ren cooks."

"…." Nora's nose wrinkled, probably in disgust; she didn't like most of Pyrrha's snacks as a rule. But she shook her head in the end, one hand creeping out of her blanket cocoon to grab Ren's sleeve. "I'll stick with Ren."

"It'll be noisy in the kitchen," Ren warned, not moving his arm while she clung to it.

"There'll be food in the kitchen," Nora noted, rubbing at her head. Pyrrha seriously hoped that the painkillers kicked in soon; it was strange to see Nora so quiet and calm. "I can eat as you cook."

Ren sighed, standing easily even with Nora dangling off his arm. "I'll take her if you've got Jaune?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. I can do that," Pyrrha waved as Nora followed Ren, glancing back at her partner. Jaune had since plopped back against his pillows, covering his head with his blankets. "Jaune?"

"Whaisit?" The words were blurred together by the blanket, making Pyrrha smile. Hungover Jaune was more like a child than… well, whatever Jaune really was. He was too excitable for an adult, but not quite mature enough. He was still somewhere in the in-between.

Pyrrha sat next to where she assumed Jaune's legs were, relaxing easily. Thankfully, he didn't seem to remember all the events from last night, or he wouldn't allow even that. "Did you want something to eat?"

"…No…"

Amused, and trying not to be, because Jaune was obviously in pain, Pyrrha leaned over and patted his shoulder gently. "You know, you could have told Yang no. I'm sure Nora would have taken your shots for you."

"And then Ren would have killed me."

"Ren wouldn't kill you," Pyrrha chuckled, understanding Jaune's concern, even if his hangover was making him exaggerate. "He'd be too busy taking care of Nora to think about that."

"…True." Jaune peeked out of the covers, wincing at the bright light. "Pyrrha?"

"Hmm?" Pyrrha looked at her serious -and pale- partner with an easy smile. It was so _easy_ with him that sometimes she forgot to be nervous about liking him.

"Did… did I do something… weird last night?" Jaune's question caught her by surprise, and Pyrrha blinked a few times before shaking her head.

"No, you just got… well, you were a little clingy. Wanted to hug people and stay warm." Pyrrha was careful as she spoke, sure that one wrong word would send Jaune into a state of awkwardness that would make her awkward and it would be one big awkward circle of awkwardness.

That was a lot of awkward to go around.

"You weren't as bad as Nora," Pyrrha was quick to reassure Jaune, tugging her hair back out of her face calmly. "She was jumping over people to bear hug them; you know the way she does when she's really, really excited? And then she wouldn't let go unless Ren said something. You were much better, really."

The look of relief on Jaune's face spoke for him as he sighed. Pyrrha wasn't sure what he was thinking was _bad_ or that she'd mind so much, but Pyrrha was just happy that Jaune seemed to be getting back to a normal state, instead of worrying about what had happened.

Leaning over to pat his hand, completely in a friendly manner no matter what certain teammates might say, Pyrrha smiled, disguising steel behind a friendly voice. "Now you just start feeling better and we can train later tonight."

The shocked look on Jaune's face was worth everything that had happened the night before, and Pyrrha couldn't stop her smile from growing as she left to get ready for the day.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

 _She didn't know what had happened, or how they had ended up like this, but Pyrrha wasn't going to complain. Somehow, Jaune had ended up practically wrapped around her, refusing to let her move from her spot on the couch next to him. She could have escaped -quite easily actually, as Jaune's grip was far from steady- but, why would she? It was unlikely that he would remember this, and it wasn't as if she had instigated this situation._

 _She just wasn't going to go out of her way to change it._

 _Besides, what would she do if she got up anyway? Chase after the other drunk people in the room? No thanks!_

 _Smiling down at Jaune, because she liked him so much more than he would ever know, Pyrrha stroked the boy's head softly, relaxing with him as he grew sleepy from the alcohol. Sure, her heart was racing and her face was probably bright red, but she was in the place she felt most comfortable in the world._

 _By Jaune's side._

* * *

And that's that. I know, it took forever to come out, but… okay, I lost the notebook that this information was in. And the flash drive. And I had written out a full karaoke scene that didn't work after I'd written it in, which sucked, cuz I enjoyed the drunk singing of Team RWBY members. But while this chapter is shorter (OMG PYRRHA CAN BE SO HARD TO WRITE FOR) I'm hoping that they get longer again as I keep writing them all out! But, for those of you still here, thanks so much for sticking around and reading; you guys are the absolute best! I promise, I'll do my best so this wait doesn't go as long as the next one, and I hope I'll see you in the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

So, just finished a biology exam, waiting for ballet… so I figured I'd type up this chapter I worked on during Fiction Writing… which has far less writing involved than I thought it would. We've spent the last two classes reading out loud… from a book that is NOT our textbook. So I work on fanfic instead. Anyway, I own nothing, but I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 _ **Chapter Seven: Ren**_

For perhaps the first time in their time together, Ren wasn't sure what Nora was thinking.

He could guess that Nora was matchmaking- that much was easy to see after the festival, especially after she went on a drunken rant that Jaune and Pyrrha should be together. But why keep it such a big secret? It wasn't as if he would _stop_ her.

And why on earth was she spending so much of her free time -when she wasn't with Ren- with Team CFVY? He knew she was friendly enough with Velvet, but Nora didn't seem particularly close with the rest of them.

 _And_ she'd actually been studying. Without him telling her to. The first time it had happened worried him, because she had just been so quiet. It was as if he'd stepped into an alternate dimension, seeing Nora reading her textbooks so diligently without him hassling her.

He knew Nora pretty well, but her behavior recently was a huge mystery. For the first time, she had made herself unreadable to Ren…

And he did not like it.

"Ren?" The culprit behind Ren's thoughts appeared, a grin on her face as she bounced onto her bed. "Whatcha doing?"

The boy looked up from his bag, which he had been packing before he got distracted thinking about Nora. She could stop him in his tracks without even being in the room! "I was packing."

"Oh, in case we have to move quick like during the Grimm attack? Good thinking!" Nora tossed her arms up into the air as she threw herself back into the pillows. "A go-bag is super smart! Are you putting food in?"

"Food spoils," Ren reminded his partner, relieved that Nora was acting normal for the first time in days.

"But food is good!" Nora complained, waving her hands dramatically. If he could see her face, Ren was sure that Nora would be pouting to go along with the movements.

"Not if it's moldy."

"Boo!" Nora sat up quickly, but she was grinning at Ren despite her complaint. "That's no fun at all if you think that way! Just think of all the good things we could eat from a go-bag if we had to dash!"

"Food poisoning isn't fun either," he pointed out, shutting the bag easily. He was never annoyed at Nora's unstoppable babbling or need to have the last word, but he never stopped being realistic.

"Bah!" Ren only had a moment's warning before Nora dove onto his bed, landing with remarkable accuracy next to him. "Ren, we seriously have to work on your fun thoughts! You are running ridiculously low on the amusement scale! Well, for the rest of the world,; I think you're amusing and cool since you're my best friend and all! But really, we…"

"Nora."

"Yes Ren?" Nora was beaming up at him, eyes as wide as the grin on her face. It wasn't a new sight to him, but given her strange behavior lately, it was certainly a welcome one.

"What do you want?"

In hindsight, that particular grin should have worried him, but at that moment, Ren let himself get dragged around for Nora's latest project without a second thought.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

"Nora."

"Yes Ren?"

"Why exactly are we at a dance studio?"

Ren eyed his partner warily as she hopped from foot to foot, raising an eyebrow when she attempted an innocent look.

"To learn how to dance! Duh!" Nora giggled at Ren's disbelief, unable to hold still. "Coco suggested it to me after I passed the test yesterday! She said I had to or she wouldn't tell me about this totally awesome place she knew!"

That certainly explained the studying.

"Plus, after all the stress that's been going on, Pyrrha said she wanted to try something new!"

And that explained why they were waiting outside instead of just walking in.

"I don't think there'll be much call for swing dancing," Ren noted, remembering the schedule he'd seen on the studio wall.

"Maybe not! But it'll get Pyrrha better about talking to strangers! And dancing!" Nora started jumping, looking for their still-missing teammate. "Where is she anyway?"

"Probably with Jaune." They normally trained right about this time, so Ren figured they'd probably come together. That was their normal routine.

"I hope not; I didn't specifically invite Jaune!" Nora took a sudden great interest in her scroll, avoiding Ren's gaze. "Besides, didn't you see how awkward they've been since that karaoke night? They were fine until yang mentioned how Jaune treated Pyrrha like a teddy bear! How'd she even remember anyway? She drank waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than we did!"

Ren shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. He didn't get involved, not like Nora did at least, in the lives of their teammates. Partly because he thought they'd be better off without their interference, and partly because he wasn't sure how they would take it.

Nora he was pretty sure about. He could -and would- interfere for her best interests any time. But Jaune and Pyrrha? That could go badly, and rather than risk it and their team dynamic, Ren took the safe path and let Nora do the interfering.

"Yeah! So it's you, me, and Pyrrha! I mean, Jaune could come I guess; I never said that he couldn't! I just told him that he's not allowed to be awkward!" Nora stretched her arms behind her back, too much energy in one body that wasn't being used. "So he probably won't show because of that! But Pyrrha said she would! So where is she?"

Nora stomped her foot impatiently, back to bouncing. As Nora ranted, Ren heard his scroll beep and glanced down.

 **'Ren, I'm sorry about this, but I can't make it tonight. Glynda asked for my help for something.'**

Well, that wouldn't make Nora happy. But it wasn't as if Pyrrha could help it if a professor asked her for something.

And Ren knew why Pyrrha chose to tell him instead of Nora. It was just safest for everyone involved if Ren was the one to pass on all bad news to Nora.

"Where is Pyrrha?" Nora was almost singing it, jumping up and down in her spot. "We need Pyrrha!"

"She can't make it." Nora's dumbfounded face almost made Ren smile when she was struck silent. "Glynda needed her help for something."

"But… but… our dancing lessons!" Nora's arms waved dramatically in the air. "We were supposed to come out here and have fun, not be stuck with our teachers!"

"She says she's sorry," Ren, in the span of seconds, watched Nora go from disappointed to irritated to acceptance.

"Of course she is! Pyrrha always feels bad when she has to bail, even if it's not her fault! I bet Glynda asked just because she knew we were going to have fun tonight!" Nora pouted before grabbing Ren's hand, bouncing on her toes. "Well, we're already here! We might as well have fun without her!"

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Ren wasn't completely sure how Nora had convinced him to stay out so late _again_ when they had class tomorrow, but here he was, leaning up against a wall instead of dancing like Nora.

In his defense, it had been Nora who left him, not the other way around. And it was only right; after all, they weren't dating and she had been asked to dance -multiple times.

Besides, she was having fun with it. It was quick, upbeat… everything Nora could have possibly asked for in a dance. In fact, he was pretty sure Nora had made sure it wouldn't be slow and stuffy before she came up with the idea to come here.

He was also sure that all the spinning didn't hurt either. She had always enjoyed spinning around and made it very clear with delighted giggles and happy squeals.

All in all, she was an enjoyable partner and never had to worry about new songs- Nora could always find someone willing to dance with, even if Ren weren't there.

Granted, Ren could find another partner if he wanted because the girls far outnumbered the boys, but he didn't want to. He was there for -and because- of Nora, so he was happy that she was enjoying herself. Even if that meant she danced with a freckled teen that couldn't be any older than Ruby.

Ren tapped his fingers against his leg absently, trying to think of something besides Nora -difficult because he could hear her from across the room at that moment chattering with the stranger she was dancing with. He had homework -it wasn't due for another week but that was no reason to procrastinate. Nora probably would though, so he'd have to help her the night before… or the morning it was due.

Or he could be training. He might have the best on his time -no one let them forget Pyrrha's status- but he shouldn't slack off just because of that. He had to be strong enough to protect Nora, even if she was powerful enough to destroy whatever she wanted to. He had to be stronger to protect everyone.

Or he could just read a book. Blake always had something good, and she didn't mind lending him something as long as he promised that Nora would never get near it. Still, if he did that, he'd have to wait until Nora was asleep or run off with Pyrrha, because she always read over his shoulder until he gave in and closed the book.

Not that he minded. Nora didn't read nearly enough -he didn't think she would if he wasn't around. But sometimes she would…

"Ren!" Caught up in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed Nora jump in front of him, grinning easily. The latest song must have ended without him realizing it, because she was slightly out of breath and more than a few boys looked like they were going to come over before she waved them off.

Ren blinked when Nora looked at him, nodding once to show her he had his attention, knowing that she was going to want to talk about _something_. "Reeeen, whatcha thinking about? You had this suuuuuuuuuuuper serious look on your face! Like this!"

"My face did not look like that." He was amused, despites his attempts not to be. Something about Nora, and nobody else, just made it hard to resist.

"Oh, it totally did! It was the deep thoughts face! Which is totally different from the homework face, though you get even quieter with both!" Nora leaned up against the wall next to him, poking him in the side. "So, talk. What's up?"

Ren hesitated, not quite sure what to say. He didn't _talk_ about his feelings -that was more Nora's department. And normally he didn't need to say anything; Nora could tell what bothered him almost before he did. So instead of going through what he _actually_ worried about -because Nora didn't need to know how much he was thinking about her- Ren settled for an easier subject.

"Why are you setting up Jaune and Pyrrha?" If Nora was surprised by his question, she didn't show it.

"They both like each other! Why wouldn't I?" Nora leaned her head against Ren's shoulder easily, tapping her fingers against her leg. "Plus, it's suuuuuuuuuper awkward seeing them dance around it! If they got together, it wouldn't be so weird for them… or for us, since we share the room! Also, I really like Pyrrha and Jaune's cool so I want them both to be happy!"

Ren didn't move as his partner spoke, knowing that she was telling the truth. Nora wouldn't like about something big like this -or if she did, it certainly wouldn't be to Ren. She genuinely wanted their teammates to be happy together, and that was why she was trying so hard.

He supported them too -silently- but Nora was the type to get attached to her causes. And she was very, very attached to her matchmaking… Ren wasn't sure why, but since Nora was so determined, he was going to have to help her.

"Hey Ren!"

"Yes Nora?"

She was obviously tired of all his thinking, grabbing at his hand impatiently. "We're here for _fun_ Ren! So let's just stop with the worry and go dance! And don't say you don't have fun; you have to enjoy something you're so good at!"

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Had Nora's hands always been so small? And how on earth did she swing Magnhild around when it was so much larger than she was?

She might have the training, but it still would have seemed impossible if Ren had never seen her in action before.

Grateful that he caught onto dancing quickly -who knew where this particular skill came from? - Ren was free to think while he danced with Nora.

She was just so… so vibrant. That was a good word for her. Vibrant, exuberant, alive… Nothing stopped Nora from doing anything she put her mind to.

Even spinning, when he was supposed to be leading. Adjusting slightly to Nora's action, enough so Nora wouldn't run into another couple, Ren looked at Nora calmly.

Dancing didn't come as easily for Nora, and she had to focus on the footwork as she moved.

Step, step, rock step and repeat.

Thankfully it was simple enough or Nora might have stepped on a few more toes.

She tried so hard though, to be as good as anyone else, even if it wasn't natural for her. It was inspiring -that was the only word for it- to see her working so hard… enough to have other people trying it too.

There was something so naturally charismatic about her that drew people in, including Ren. It was just so normal to him now that he couldn't imagine what it would be like without her.

That one day when she hovered over Jaune had been bad enough.

"Ren?" Nora followed Ren's lead and spun inwards, her hand resting in his comfortably.

"Yes Nora?"

Nora practically glowed from the force of her grin, it's power nearly enough to ruin Ren's rhythm. "I'm glad you're having fun! I know I kinda dragged you out, so I'm happy that you're smiling and enjoying yourself!"

Ren shook his head, his small smile relaxing into a more neutral expression. That was Nora's effect again, helping him relax out of his normally stoic state, even if he didn't want to. "We really should be training."

"Aww, but we need to relax too! Otherwise we'll be too stressed to do well!" Nora pretended to pout, but her eyes were still bright as Ren guided her into another spin, giggling when he kept her spinning. "See, I bet we do great tomorrow because we had so much fun!"

"An answer for everything." Nora always seemed to have one. It didn't mean that her answers were always _right_ but she always had something to say.

"it's not fun if I don't!" Sometimes it was better to let Nora have the last word -it didn't always mean she won- and since the song was ending, Ren relaxed and dipped Nora, much to her delight.

Squealing as he lifted her to her feet, Nora immediately jumped into a hug, nearly lifting him off the ground in her excitement.

"You are seriously the best ever!" She was gushing barely able to stay at a reasonable volume as she bounced on her toes. "Ren, we have to do this again! We'll actually bring Jaune and Pyrrha next time!"

Silent -words weren't required with Nora after all- Ren nodded, barely keeping up with her continuous ranting even hours later when they finally made it home.

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

A few days later, Ren knocked on Team RWBY's door with a plate of pancakes. Why pancakes?

Well, Nora was his main basis for social interaction and she liked pancakes, so it made a good gift? But this was Ruby, so maybe cookies were better.

But he wasn't here for Ruby. Ren wanted to talk to Blake. Or maybe Yang. He just couldn't tell Nora -and keeping a secret from her was never easy- and it might be insensitive to go to the still-awkward Jaune and Pyrrha.

Ren heard footsteps behind the door and barely held in a quiet sigh. This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

And that's that! I actually had to stop typing and head into ballet, but here I am finishing it, because I have nothing better to do until my next class starts… in 4 ½ hours. Anyway, I'm working on other fics, so I'm hoping to have something up this weekend, but there's a baby at my house and he's adorable, so I get a little distracted! So, if I get it up, yay; if not, I'm sorry but I'll get something up soon! Thanks so much for reading guys and I'll see you in the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 7 and a half

Hey, sorry I've been gone so long guys! Biology… it was killing me. I was actually studying and still did horribly. Like… 79.73% as a final grade. (Which would be really bad as my college-fund-controlling aunt already hates paying for my classes…) But, thanks to my professor's grading, a 79.5% counts as a B. So, besides all of y'all, no one has to know that my B was supposed to be a C. Because, why not?

Anyway, that's why I've been gone. It's summer, and I'll be babysitting this month (omg my nephew is so cute; I'm gonna get this 3-month-old started on RWBY Chibi) and then housesitting all of July, so I'm hoping I can get updates (if not, at least some one-shots) up for all of y'all! In the meantime, here's a little something until I get chapter 8 finished!

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7.5- JNPR**_

 _Jaune_

The team was falling apart. Not visibly, not obvious at all to outsiders, but the people involved couldn't be clueless. Jaune certainly wasn't.

Ren was quieter than normal -even Jaune could see that. It was hard to notice, but once you started, you couldn't stop. And Jaune wasn't blind to the way Ren watched Nora even closer than before… and grew tense whenever another boy came near.

It was nearly impossible to see if you weren't looking but they had spent enough time together for Jaune to know his teammate. It was a wonder that Nora hadn't figured it out, but then again, she wouldn't be looking for something like that.

She probably didn't even think something romantic would happen between her and Ren anyway.

Not including Ren's recent troubles, Jaune didn't want to go over his situation with Pyrrha with anyone… not even himself. Despite Nora's attempts -and he had to admit, she was at least being mostly subtle about it- everything was awkward enough without worrying about it all the time.

But he had to figure out something. Because if he didn't… everything they had worked for… everything they had built… it might just break to pieces.

 _Nora_

Everyone was acting weird! Jaune and Pyrrha were dancing around each other -not that _that_ was strange really- but even Ren was quieter than normal! And not in the normal stress-about-homework kind of way, but in a weird way… a way that made Nora not quite sure that she wanted to pry.

He was right there, but it felt like Ren was miles away… and Nora didn't like it. They were partners, and best friends, and they were not supposed to be so distant and have secrets!

He had been acting strange ever since he went to visit Team RWBY… something she wouldn't have known about if Ruby hadn't mentioned it. Apparently, he dropped by right before they were going out and caught Blake? But Ren had neglected to mention it to her, and Nora figured he'd get to it eventually… until he didn't.

Nora flopped back against her pillows, blasting the music on her headphones. She'd never admit it -she might actually scare Ren off that way, the same way Pyrrha worried about Jaune- but Nora knew exactly why it bothered her.

But she knew better than to actually say it.

 _Pyrrha_

The year had been easier when all she had to worry about was Nora breaking something… or someone. Now it was about making sure Jaune relaxed and stopped feeling so awkward around her -he was clumsy enough, in an endearing way, without being so anxious. It was kind of depressing since Pyrrha _wanted_ him to notice her, but it was necessary for things to function.

Pyrrha forced herself to relax before she ended up injured, catching her thoughts drifting instead of focusing on her extra training. Why not train more, seeing as she had all this extra energy… and it gave her some time alone to think.

She needed things to go back to normal. All this, hoping about Jaune, worrying all the time, behaving like a normal girl… it wasn't what she did. It wasn't like her at all. Pyrrha couldn't just let herself fall apart like that.

So, she'd be strong. She always was.

 _Ren_

His talk with Blake had been… helpful. Ren had never placed any parallels between Sun and Nora, but he supposed their energy was close enough, even if they used it very differently. But realizing even that made things more difficult.

Blake and Sun were dating. Ren and Nora were not. And while he could handle liking Nora, he wasn't sure how Nora would feel if she ever found out.

He could guess that she'd be nice about it -she wouldn't want to hurt him. Ren knew that much. But would she be happy? Upset? Would it ruin what they already had? It was something he couldn't guess about Nora, and it was the most important thing to know.

Nora was resting against her pillows, probably listening to her music louder than she should. She was moving -a lot- but that wasn't surprising. Very little about Nora surprised him after all these years.

Ren flipped a page in his textbook, barely registering the words. He was spending more and more time thinking about his feelings for Nora… and he couldn't bring himself to mind.

* * *

And there we go! It's not quite a full chapter, but it was something that came to mind that should kind of lead into the next sequence… you know, the drama sequence since everyone has kind of figured out how they feel… and maybe a few guest appearances! (I did actually mean to have Team RWBY and all of them pop in as chapter leads at one point ^^')

Anyway, I am hoping to get more written in the next few days (maybe write something up while baby's sleeping) so thanks so much for sticking around guys, and I'll see you in the next chapter!


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